“The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.” (Psalm 118:24 NIV)
Tonight, at the tutoring and mentoring session at our church, we will have what the children labeled “Opposite Day.” This is where the mentor becomes the student, and the student becomes the teacher. Now we have not abandoned our purpose. Students were given letter to present to their teachers to send some worksheets for the students to use as part of their lesson plans in their “Opposite Day” role. Specifically, they were asked to send worksheets with reading, writing, and arithmetic assignments. The mentees will have to show the teachers how to do the work correctly.
We have done “Opposite Day” before and the mentees acted just like their teachers act, or they emulate others in their world that have authority over them. The last time we did this, they were regulators, raising their voices to levels never heard when they were being mentored, and even required the regular mentors (teachers), in their opposite role, to continue working while they conducted a teacher’s meeting in a remote room in our education center. Now while we could have acted like out-of-control, boisterous children who had been left without an authority in the room, we modeled good behavior.
That word “model” is where we can focus on this morning. In a general sense, in all environments, when we model good behavior, the young children watching us will learn good behavior by the example we set. When we model submissiveness to the authority over us, the youngsters learn how to respect authority. When we model the use of acceptable language, our children will grow up with a vocabulary that does not need to accentuate profanity for the purpose of inserting a profane punctuation word in their verbal communication. Modeling is important. Dismiss the old saying, “Do what I say, and not what I do.” Instead, model the expectations that you have for your children (grandchildren included).
Now, from a specific perspective, when we model that there is no shame in asking questions, in our roles on “opposite day” and we do it in the proper way, our students will learn that no earnest question earns the distinction of being a bad question and they see that there is a right way to ask questions.
Some people will model the feeling of regretting to find anything to be happy about. But as it relates to you, model the opposite, no regretting, just rejoicing. The Lord has blessed you to see another day! Go ahead and thank the Lord!
Just in case you need a quick course or a mini tutorial on modeling, just read the closing verses below, taken from the word of God. Have a terrific Tuesday! Be blessed!
“The Lord your God told me to give you all these commandments which you are to obey in the land you will soon be entering, where you will live. The purpose of these laws is to cause you, your sons, and your grandsons to reverence the Lord your God by obeying all of his instructions as long as you live; if you do, you will have long, prosperous years ahead of you. Therefore, O Israel, listen closely to each command and be careful to obey it, so that all will go well with you, and so that you will have many children. If you obey these commands, you will become a great nation in a glorious land ‘flowing with milk and honey,’ even as the God of your fathers promised you. “O Israel, listen: Jehovah is our God, Jehovah alone. You must love him with all your heart, soul, and might. And you must think constantly about these commandments I am giving you today. You must teach them to your children and talk about them when you are at home or out for a walk; at bedtime and the first thing in the morning.” (Deuteronomy 6:1-7 The Living Bible)”
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King