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To sow seeds of integrity in our children is to sow seeds of greatness, but to sow seeds of integrity we must first understand what integrity is. Once we understand what integrity is, we can exhibit that behavior in our own lives. What is integrity? Merriam Webster defines integrity as the adherence to a set of values. No matter what your values are, to exhibit integrity you must stick to them like glue. To possess integrity you must possess consistency. Your child will mock your behavior with consistency, whatever that behavior is.

I believe that the writer of the book of Proverbs had this very issue of children mocking our behavior in mind when he wrote Proverbs 22:6. It says, "Train up a child in the way he (or she) should go and when he or she is old they will not depart from it." The fact is that whatever behavior you wish to see in your children, you need to find it in yourself first, and when they are old they will still be imitating the behaviors that you trained them to follow. Instilling integrity in your children follows the same simple principle as every other behavior we could hope to teach them. We must be role models. Our children will do as we do not as we say.

The reason is as simple as the law of gravity. We have all heard it said a hundred, if not a thousand times, "your actions speak louder than your words." This is all too true when it comes to children. Children imitate everything their parents' do. In fact children love to play pretend and if you want a little insight into your own behavior just watch them play pretend for five minutes.

I cannot count how many times; I have heard myself speak the exact words of my mother or father. Some of these words were productive, some of them were not. Whatever the case may be, I am quite sure that as a child I did not purposely memorize these phrases for future reference. In fact I am most certain that as a teen I thought every word uttered from my mother or fathers mouth were "bogus dude." How is it that these words and phrases that I so despised were so deeply embedded in my sub conscience mind that thirty years later they so freely flow from my lips?

Another area of thought to consider when attempting to instill integrity in your child is the area of behavior. While I do not believe that behaviorism can be accepted for all actions, I do believe that behaviorism plays a role. Psychologist John B. Watson was one of the first in the field of behaviorism to study animals in regard to stimuli and

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