Teaching  

Truthfulness to 

Children

Christine Kamala Sodt

28

Enlightenment Journal | Spring 2012

L

iving truthfully is the authentic 

expression of our inherent 

divine identity. Teaching our 

children to be truthful supports them 

in their own divine remembrance and 

is at the heart of what it means to be a 

parent.  Effective parenting, based on 

spiritual principles, such as truth-

fulness and harmlessness, requires 

that spiritual living be placed at the 

center of family life. Three basic steps 

to teaching truthfulness to children 

are:

 

modeling, encouraging, and 

practicing.

 

 

Parents are truly their child’s first 

and most important teacher.  Chil-

dren will always be looking to us to 

set the example. The most effective 

tool parents have for teaching spiri-

tual values, such as truthfulness, is by 

modeling

 them—living from our own 

place of integrity as parents. Knowing 

that the spiritual value of truthful-

ness applies to our thoughts, words, 

and actions, one very simple way that 

we can demonstrate truthfulness is 

by keeping agreements with ourselves, 

our children, and with others.  We can 

demonstrate this by returning books to 

the public library on time; by showing 

up on time for our child’s ball game 

or dance rehearsal; or by returning 

change to the grocery store cashier 

who gave us more money than we 

were due. As we model truthful living, 

we demonstrate the spiritual power 

associated with truthfulness—the 

power to manifest one’s own word. We 

keep the focus on living with integrity 

and harmony, with awareness to the 

fruits of such living.

LIGHTING THE PATH FOR CHILDREN