²¹ you then, who teach another, don’t you teach yourself? You who preach, “You must not steal”—do you steal?

“Do as I say, not as I do.”

How often has this phrase been uttered? If we do not practice what we preach we are but a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal, as another line of scripture says.

When we have children we strive to teach by example, especially by the example of how we live. When the child does something wrong we should often look first to what our lives have taught them. This is not to say that everything a child does wrong is a byproduct of the parent. Children learn from many sources. However, if we are portraying a positive life more than likely we are conveying morals and behavior that teaches good behavior.

The same can be said for how we lead at work. When our example is a positive one and we lead from our desire to do our best for God, we are a positive example for those around us. Yes, I have known many successful people who were looked to as an example. But for all their success they were rarely happy and this was clearly self-evident and their example suffered. What they strove to inspire in others came from the wrong place and the inspiration had no depth.

Thus, we must strive to practice what we preach and live a life worthy of our calling.