There’s an old story about a father and his three-year-old daughter. The father asked her, “How did you get to be so wonderful?”

Immediately she replied, “Because I married you!”

The dad and daughter were obviously not married. The daughter was simply repeating what she had heard someone else say in response to the same question. The dad had at some point asked his wife, “How did you get to be so wonderful?” and she had lovingly responded, “Because I married you.”

This was overheard by the three-year-old, who stored the words away in her mind as an appropriate and loving response to the question.

I tell you this old story as a reminder that we often learn through what we overhear and see.

When we overhear people being respectful, it encourages us to do the same.
When we see people being generous, it encourages us to do the same.
When we experience others being self-sacrificial, it encourages us to do the same.

As Jesus says in Matthew 5:16: “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

So today, let your light shine before others.

We often learn through what we overhear and see. And others often learn through what they overhear and see in you.

By Matthew Ruttan

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.