Watch and Learn

I’m not sure how you learn best, maybe you hear something memorize it right away. Maybe you’re more of a doer, needing to see and practice a new skill to acquire it. It could be that you learn through watching someone perform a new skill. The phrase watch and learn is a common one that has been used for ages. When you’re working with a professional or even with someone who knows how to do the skill, this quote makes a lot of sense. However, if I were to say watch and learn as I attempt to surf for the first time, I might not be the best teacher, and you will likely not learn this new skill.

It is common in our society to watch and learn new skills. If I wonder how to clean a certain stain, I can do a quick Google search to find a video or a recipe for a stain remover. If I want to learn a certain dance, I can search the dance name and copy the dancer. Learning from a video can be a great tool when used approriately, and it can be a game changer (for worse) if someone finds something to watch and learn that’s not appropriate or is not a good example of the new skill.

Children, even from infancy watch and learn. They move their lips ot mimic our mouths when we talk. Then they begin to say small words that they’ve heard us say, like Dada or nana (the word our son used for banana and for any other type of food when he was a baby). Eventually, our children may even copy the phrases we use. I’ve come across several videos that show toddlers using curse words appropriately, which they have clearly learned from someone in their home. It’s amazing what phrases our children pick up from us, whether we hope they’ll watch and learn or not.

Since it’s so common to watch and learn, we can use this to help our children grow in faith. By attending church and small groups, reading our Bibles, listening to Christian songs, and practicing Christian principles in everyday life, our children will likely begin to emulate this appropriate behavior and learn how to follow Jesus by watching us.

James 1:22-25 (ESV) says this:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

So, when you read Scripture, try to find something to put into practice. Don’t just read (or hear) it, do it. When you hear a sermon or attend a Bible study, consider how you might apply what you learned in real life. In this way, you are putting into practice what you’ve learned. This not only benefits you, but it benefits your children, who are watching and learning from you.

And when you fail (which you will), accept God’s forgiveness and change your behavior. In this way, you are modeling how disciples of Jesus respond when they have done something wrong. If you become angry while driving and say something unkind, catch yourself and say aloud, I shouldn’t have said that. It was mean. I’m thankful that God forgives my sins (bad choices) and lets me start fresh again when I fail.

As you become more aware of your own actions, doing your best to follow Jesus well, your children will have a real-life example of what a disciple says and does. By doing this, you set an exmple for your children of how to follow Jesus. You show them that you watch and learn from Jesus, and hopefully they will then watch and learn from you as they learn how to follow Jesus.