12 Secrets for Successful Families

7. Values

Values are the personal standards by which you choose to live.  For example, do you strive to be honest in all things?  Then, likely you want to instill that moral value in your children.

Values also include ethical standards.  For example, a person with solid ethics is industrious, fair, and considerate of others-traits that are best developed while a person is still young. 

BIBLE PRINCIPLE: "Train a child in the way he should go; even when he grows old he will not depart from it." -Proverbs 22:6.

WHY IT MATTERS

In the age of technology, moral values are essential.  "Bad influences can be accessed on any mobile device at any time," says a mother named Karyn.  "Our children could be sitting right nest to us while they're watching something indecent!"

BIBLE PRINCIPLE: "Mature people . . .have their powers of discernment trained to be distinguish both right and wrong." -Hebrews 5:14.

Ethical values are essential too.  That includes extending simple courtesies (such as saying "please" and "thank you") and showing concern for others-a value that has become rare, as people seem more interested in devices than they are in people. 

Next time: 12 Secrets for Successful Families - Conclusion of 7. Values

From the jw.org publication