Parents are the greatest teaching tool their children have, because children learn habits and skills by repetition, and what they see in their parents shapes them for life. Deuteronomy 6:5-9 shows that teaching begins with loving the Lord with all one's heart, soul, and strength, so that God's words are first in the parent's own heart before being taught diligently throughout the day. Parents teach whether or not they intend to, and a child will not walk a path the parent does not walk. A parent who trains without setting a good example builds with one hand and tears down with the other. James 1:22 warns that being hearers only is self-deception. Jesus Christ taught by example for three and a half years: He was calm in a crisis, angry without sinning, gentle with children, humble in washing feet, and patient, longsuffering, and forgiving in His trial and death. Through His example the mind of the Father is seen. Parents likewise teach in prayer, study, work, play, how they react to traffic, praise, scorn, winning, losing, and in trials, sickness, job loss, and death, when faith and trust in God remain. Love must be in deed and truth (I John 3:18). The aim is that children see Christ in their parents and take the same goal for their own lives, so that when they are old they will not depart from the way. This calls for daily prayer and self-examination. Example is clearer than counsel, and the best guide is the one who shows the way.

God instructs us to teach our children diligently, emphasizing the importance of embedding His Word in our hearts and lives as a foundation for guidance. We must have a passion for God, loving Him with all our heart, soul, and strength, and letting His commandments shape our daily conduct. By living out these principles, we provide an example of righteous living to our children, sharing our knowledge of the Scriptures, and instilling confidence, faith, and love as guides for their lives. Teaching diligently requires perseverance, drive, consistency, and planning, setting specific times each day for instruction. This planned activity should occur at designated moments, whether when sitting in the house, walking by the way, lying down, or rising up, ensuring that every facet of life includes teaching God's Word. For young children, brief sessions are effective, such as reading a Bible verse as a daily memory verse and illustrating its application through stories that show God's protection and care for the righteous. Beyond formal teaching, casual conversation is vital, taking place during everyday activities like folding clothes, doing housework, or playing sports. This time allows us to listen to our children, understand their thoughts and feelings, and guide them with examples from our own experiences of applying God's Word, such as using a soft answer to turn away wrath. Spending time with children, especially teenagers, counters negative influences from the world and reinforces the importance of God's guidelines. Teaching by example is crucial; our actions must reflect the love for God's law that we profess. When we show genuine care, stop what we are doing to listen, and look our children in the eye, we communicate their importance to us. If we diligently teach our children about the joy and happiness of living God's way, without hypocrisy, they will not be turned off. As parents, we have a unique opportunity to impart the love of God and the knowledge of His Word, building a wall of faith to protect them from the selfishness and false ideas of this world.

What we do speaks more loudly than what we say, so parents who teach honesty, loyalty, and obedience must strive to live those things themselves, or their children will lose faith in them and excuse their own failings by pointing to bad examples. As parents, we represent Christ to our children, providing either a godly example or a carnal one. Two contrasting fathers in I Chronicles illustrate this. Rapha, a giant, evidently raised his sons to be men of war who hated Israel. Even after Goliath fell to a youth, which was plainly a miracle, he never showed humility or urged his remaining sons to yield to a mightier God, and they were killed one after another. Ornan the Jebusite, though descended from a people long at war with Israel, came to recognize the God of Israel and David as His chosen king. He bowed before David and freely offered his threshing floor, oxen, and wheat for sacrifice, and his four sons lived. Grown children are still accountable for their own choices, and a bad upbringing is no acceptable excuse. Spiritually, the Father and Christ, the Elder Brother, give perfect examples that back up Their words, and these are the model to follow.

Good teachers set good examples, because true teaching is more than telling people things; the character and quality of a teacher's life matter as much as skill and method. Wisdom is used first to live by, and only then to talk about. The Greek philosophers spoke of what they had learned but never applied it in their own lives, and their teaching was distorted as a result. Jesus is the supreme model: He taught in every setting, fitted His instruction to His hearers' ability, and, having suffered and been tempted as a human, can empathize with us. His authority was recognized because of who He was and by whose authority He spoke, not only because of what He said. A teacher must be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath, free of any sense of superiority, and must never stand on a pedestal and talk down. Teaching means learning truth together, as a family. Patience, kindness, and mercy must be genuine and not merely acted, since acting patient is hypocrisy. In the Millennium, spirit-composed saints will teach God's way largely by example, displaying the fruit of God's Spirit so that others want to live that way. For now, we teach by example in our families and congregations, especially our children, by submitting to direction, arriving on time, staying attentive, and solving problems cheerfully at the Feast.