I once blogged about the importance of parental influence and mentioned five things that can increase it.  In this post and the following four posts I elaborate on what I call the Five Optimizers of Influence.  While nothing guarantees that our kids will make wise choices, my 31 years of youth ministry taught me that parents who become proficient in these five areas will have maximum impact on their kids.

1. Model authenticity.

Your church attendance.  Showing affection as a marriage.  Authenticity.  Character is more caught than taught.  Truthfulness.  Let them see you treat other people with respect, even those with whom you disagree.  When you show that you listen to those with differences and have thoughtful responses to them your views will be more attractive to your kids.  Taking care of selves.   Be vulnerable.   Apologize frequently.  Authorities who apologizes gains more respect than one who pretends to be flawless.  Humility.  Be transparent and vulnerable about ways you are growing or need to grow.

For my next Optimzer, go to Influence Optimizer #2.