"The LORD is king forever and ever;
the nations perish from his land.
O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen their heart;
you will incline your ear
to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more." Verses 16-18
Ezekiel 18:14-17
This passage is a list of things that a child should NOT learn from his parents. Or to perhaps rephrase it, things that a child should learn from the negative example of his parents.
Words and phrases that speak to me..."This person will not die for the sins of the parent; he will live truly and well." And there is a whole list of things that the child in question does NOT do.
Have I ever learned from watching someone else's negative example? I'm trying to think about that as I read here. I know that there were things that my own parents did/said/thought that I decided long ago that I would not do/say/think that way. But I don't know how significant these things are. For example, politically, my parents always vote Democrat. Doesn't matter who it is, they vote Democrat. My father-in-law is the same only on the Republican side. I refuse to do that. I look at who is best and vote accordingly. May not even be either one. But, like I said...this is not a truly significant issue. My parents gave me very few negative examples to learn from. I learned from their positive examples.
But there are people who are always in the spotlight whose examples we can learn from. For example, we can learn from Lindsay Lohan that we should not drink/take drugs and drive afterwards. Heh. It would, of course, help if, you know, she would learn that. The sad thing is, many young people are looking up to these celebrities, and instead of learning from the negative examples, are pretty much worshiping the celebrities and emulating them. Kind of scary.
Is there someone who is watching me and could learn from my negative examples? Oh, you betcha. I've got two daughters. And they are watching me to see how I act, how I respond in certain situations.
I also have people in my life right now that I can learn from by watching their negative behaviors. Most of these are at work. There's a guy I work with who has been married less than a year, and I shake my head daily at the things he says about his wife and their relationship. I don't think they will last the year. I'm trying to counsel him with what I've learned in 22+ years of marriage (no, I'm not an expert, believe me!), and at the same time, his example makes me want to be sure to show my wife a little extra love today.
Always remember that people are watching. If you're like me, and you are sometimes, you would much rather them learn from the positive things that you do than from the negative. I'm going to try to take that to heart in the future, especially in my work environment.
Grace and peace, friends.