A Life Of Investing Your Life In Others

Bible Reading:  Romans 16

Key Verse: Verse 1 – “I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea:”

Key Words: I commend unto you

As you read Romans 16, you read a seemingly long list of names that mean absolutely nothing to the casual reader; but you have to go beyond the surface and look deeply into the lives of these thirty-six people and see how Paul had invested his life in them, mentored them, prayed for them, watched after them – and now here they are, all serving God because Paul had invested his life in others. There is no greater joy than investing your life into others for the glory of God.

In his autobiography, Breaking Barriers, syndicated columnist Carl Rowan tells about a teacher who greatly influenced his life. Rowan relates: “Miss Thompson reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a piece of paper containing a quote attributed to Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. I listened intently as she read: ‘Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans, aim high in hope and work. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us.’ More than thirty years later, I gave a speech in which I said that Frances Thompson had given me a desperately needed belief in myself. A newspaper printed the story, and someone mailed the clipping to my beloved teacher. She wrote me: ‘For years, I endured my brother’s arguments that I had wasted my life; that I should have married and had a family. When I read that you gave me credit for helping to launch a marvelous career, I put the clipping in front of my brother. After he’d read it, I said, ‘You see, I didn’t really waste my life, did I?’”

You never know who you are having an impact on; so never quit; never give up; always invest your life in others for God’s service.

 

                                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse

 What to do:

✞List those who invested their lives in you and send them a card of appreciation.

✞ Make a list of those you want to invest your life in and list how that can be done.

✞ Now do it!!!

A Life Of Determination

Bible Reading: Psalm 119:153-160

Key Verse: Verse 157 – “Many are my persecutors and mine enemies; yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.”

Key Words: Many are my persecutors and mine enemies

It is easy to go downhill. Anyone who rides a bike knows that. It is easy to go zipping along on a flat road; that calls for very little effort. But going uphill is another matter. Even a slight incline calls for more determination, and taking on a steep grade calls for all the strength and resolution a person has. But going downhill?  Anyone can do that. Many a cyclist, faced with a really steep hill, will simply turn around and coast back the way he came. The reason, of course, is that he was not really going anywhere in the first place. After all, he was just out for a joyride.

Being a believer, however, is no joyride. The psalmist was facing a stiff grade:  “Many are my persecutors and mine enemies,” he said. Everywhere he looked he saw unfriendly faces. The temptation was to give up. “Yet I do not decline from Thy testimonies,” he added.

John Phillips tells the following story. “As a boy I was brought up in a town that was avidly devoted to soccer. It was the big game. On Saturday afternoons thousands of people would flock to the stadium to see the weekly match. In those days most people walked, took the occasional bus, or rode a bicycle. Very few people had cars. When the match was over and the crowds poured out of the stadium, the sidewalks would be jammed with people walking back toward town.  Anyone could have gone with that crowd. A small person could have picked up his legs and been carried along by the crowd, the people were so tightly packed. But try going against it – that was different. To go against the crowd called for determination. It was a struggle every single step.”

 In spite of the struggle, we need the determination of the psalmist, “Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.”

                                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Take care of what God has entrusted to you.

Christians Are Faithful

Bible Reading:  Revelation 2:1-11

Key Verse: Verse 10 – “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”

Key Words: be thou faithful unto death

F.B. Meyer signed many of his letters, “Yours to count on.”

Meyer also is credited with saying: “A little thing is a little thing; but faithfulness in little things is a very great thing.”

The one ability that is within each of us is the ability to be faithful: faithful to our family, faithful on our job, faithful in our church attendance, and faithful in our giving.  Just be faithful!

 After the tragic bombing of a marine base in Beirut in October of 1983, the steadfastness of one young soldier moved and heartened Americans back home.  He had been critically wounded in the explosion of the revamped hotel where he and his fellow marines had been staying.  Many of his buddies had been killed.  He was covered with bandages and a jungle of tubes were attached to his body.  He could not speak.  Yet when he was visited by General Paul Kelly, Commandant of the Marine Corps, he indicated that he wanted to write something.  Painfully, he wrote the words semper fi, a shortened form of the U.S. Marine Corps motto, Semper Fidelis, which means “Always faithful.”

                                                                                    Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞ Be faithful: it’s just that simple.

Bible Reading:  II Timothy 2:1-13

Key Verse: Verse 3 – “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

Key Words: as a good soldier in Jesus Christ

A Christian is a soldier and should fight the good fight of faith, not becoming entangled in the affairs of this life.

The Greek word translated entangle means “to entwine.” This reminds us of Samson, the mighty soldier who lost his power because he became entangled with Delilah, or maybe Lot who became entangled with Sodom, or Rehoboam who became entangled with power.

One of my granddaughters wanted to wear one of her momma’s necklaces.  As I walked by the room where my granddaughter was dressing, I heard her grunting and sighing and such. Finally, I heard a loud sigh that sounded like someone speaking in tongues.  In fear and trembling I knocked on the door to see if I could help.  My granddaughter looked at me and muttered something that sounded like an angry bull snorting at a matador.  I calmly asked if I could help, still not knowing what the problem was.  She said, “Sure,” tossing the necklace on the bed.  “But I can tell you now it’s hopeless.”

Being her Paw-Paw and her pastor, I reassured her with soothing words that where there is life there is hope.  So I walked over and picked up the item off the bed to find a necklace entwined in seemingly a hundred or more knots.  I worked with the necklace for several minutes, which, in actuality seemed like several hours, until I found myself speaking and snorting in a muttering tone, totally frustrated with the job that was before me, when finally I declared to my granddaughter, “This is hopeless!”, only to hear her reply, “I tried to tell you.”  

 The point is that we are useless as a soldier of God when we become entangled in the world.  I encourage you as a Christian soldier to fight the good fight of faith and don’t let yourself become entangled with the things of the world.

                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞ Endure hardness as a good soldier and be leery of the enemy – the world.

Being A Christian

Bible Reading:  Acts 11:1-26

Key Verse: Verse 26 - “And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”

Key Words: And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch

There is a difference between being born again and being a Christian.  Being born again is when we accept what Jesus did for us in dying, being buried, and raising from the dead.  Salvation is what Jesus did for us; being a Christian is what we do for Him – not because we have to but because we want to.

The very word Christian means “to resemble, to identify with.”  So a Christian is one who can be identified because they resemble Christ in words and actions.

The young son of a humble, consecrated pastor became very ill.  After the boy had undergone an exhaustive series of tests, the father was told the shocking news that his son had a terminal illness.  The youngster had accepted Christ as his Savior, so the minister knew that death would usher him into Glory; but he wondered how to inform his son that he would soon die.   After earnestly seeking the direction of the Holy Spirit, he went with a heavy heart through the hospital ward to the boy’s bedside.  First he read a passage of Scripture and had a time of prayer with his dear child.  Then he gently told him that the doctors could promise him only a few more days to live.  “Are you afraid to meet Jesus, my boy?” asked his devout father.

Blinking away a few tears, the little fellow said bravely, “No, not if He’s like you, Dad.”

In our daily walk we should strive to reflect Christ in our lives.

                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse 

What to do:  

✞Let others see Jesus through you.

Sleeping People

Bible Reading:  Acts 20:7-12

Key Verse: Verse 9- “And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.”

Key Words: being fallen into a deep sleep

Now, Eutychus is not the only one to fall asleep in church.  I have watched couples nod off in magnificent rhythm.  I mean perfect timing.  Why, there are our spiritual church sleepers, they fall asleep, wake up long enough to say amen and then doze back off into never-never land.  Then there was the lady who had the strangest wheeze and smile while she was snoring, it reminded me of a chattering chimpanzee.

Why do people fall asleep in church?

Training:  That's right, we were trained as small children to stretch out on the pew beside our parents and sleep away.  Habits are hard to break.

Physical Factors:  Medicines we are on.

Indifference:  Some people would rather sleep than be fed God's Word.

Boredom:  Let's face it, some messages can be boring.

So much for the diagnosis, what about the remedy?

The Service:  Must be conducive for worship: good music and a few good, hearty amens every now and then help congregation involvement.

Physical Preparation:  Get a good night's rest on Saturday night, get up on Sunday morning in time to get ready without a lot of helter skelter.

Spiritual Preparation:  Take time to have prayer for the service before coming to church.

The Speaker:  Should be alert and ready, have his message well-prepared.  We are not in the entertainment business but each message should be interesting.

 I trust you will get the sleep you need, but not in church!!

                                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞Go to bed on Saturday night and be ready for Sunday. 

Committed People

Bible Reading:  Psalm 37:1-10

Key Verse: Verse 5- “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”

Key Words: Commit thy way unto the LORD

The following letter was written by a young Communist to his girlfriend breaking off his relationship with her because of his commitment to the Communist cause.  The letter was given to the girl’s father who had the letter published.

“We Communists have a high casualty rate.  We are the ones who get shot and hung and ridiculed and fired from our jobs and in every other way made as uncomfortable as possible.  A certain percentage of us get killed or imprisoned.  We live in virtual poverty.  We turn back to the party every penny we make above what is absolutely necessary to keep us alive.

“We Communists do not have the time or the money for many movies or concerts or T-bone steaks or decent homes or new cars.  We’ve been described as fanatics.  We are fanatics.  Our lives are dominated by one great, overshadowing factor: the struggle for world Communism.  We have a philosophy of life which no amount of money can buy.  We have a cause to fight for, a definite purpose in life.  We subordinate our petty personal selves into a great movement of humanity; and if our personal lives seem hard or our egos appear to suffer through subordination to the party, then we are adequately compensated by the thought that each of us, in his small way, is contributing to something new and true and better for mankind.

“There is one thing in which I am in dead earnest about, and that is the Communist cause.  It is my life, my business, my religion, my hobby, my sweetheart, my wife, my mistress, my bread and meat.  I work at it in the daytime and dream of it at night.  Its hold on me grows, not lessens, as time goes on; therefore, I cannot carry on a friendship, a love affair, or even a conversation without relating it to this force which both drives and guides my life.  I evaluate people, looks, ideas, and actions according to how they affect the Communist cause, and by their attitude toward it.  I’ve already been in jail because of my ideals, and if necessary, I’m ready to go before a firing squad.”

Oh, Lord, give us believers with commitment for you.  Psalm 37:5, “Commit thy ways unto the Lord.”

 

                                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:  

✞Evaluate your commitment to God and His cause. 

Did You Know About These Heroes?

Bible Reading: Hebrews 11:32-40

Key Verse: Verse 38 - “(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”

Key Words: Of whom the world was not worthy

One of my favorite World War I stories is about The Lost Battalion.  Someone has written:

“Neither lost nor a battalion, they were 550 stalwart soldiers, the tattered remnants of New York’s famed 77^th ‘Statue of Liberty’ Division, fighting their way through France.  Commanding them was a bespectacled Wall Street lawyer, Major Charles Whittlesey, who won the Medal of Honor for his deeds.

“When Allied forces began the 1918 drive that would end World War I, the 77^th faced the Argonne Forest, a formidable German stronghold.  Whittlesey’s exhausted troops had been fighting steadily for weeks; nonetheless, General John J. ‘Black Jack’ Pershing ordered the Americans to advance ‘without regard of losses.’  When the major’s protest was refused, he responded: ‘I’ll attack, but whether you’ll hear from me again, I don’t know.’”

One hundred and ninety four of the battalion did survive and until their deaths they were modern day heroes. Now they are deceased heroes.

In Hebrews 11 there are thirty-two heroes, not heroes from a physical world war, but a spiritual world war that has gone on for years between the Lord and Satan.  Well, I’ve read the last chapter – the good guys win.  Now it is men and women such as those who are mentioned in Hebrews 11 that should be our heroes.  Amen and amen. 

 

                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞ Be thankful for, not just your physical heroes, but your spiritual ones as well.

Do You Know About The Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier?

Bible Reading:  John 10:22-30

Key Verse: Verse 27 - “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”

Key Words: and I know them

On October 22, 1921, four bodies were exhumed at four cemeteries in France, near sites where American soldiers were known to have fallen in the War to End All Wars.

Those selecting the remains had to make sure they were indeed Americans but were otherwise truly unidentifiable, with no clues as to name, rank, or service.  For evidence they relied upon location of the original burial, gunshot wounds, and fragments of uniform.  The bodies were embalmed, placed in similar coffins, and taken to the city hall at Chalons-sur-Marne.

In a simple ceremony on the morning of October 24, Sergeant Edward S. Younger, a soldier decorated for heroism in the war, entered the chapel, circled the four caskets, and choosing at random placed a spray of white roses on the second from the right.  The chosen soldier was interred at Arlington National Cemetery on Armistice Day.  On his white marble tomb appears this inscription: “Here Rests in Honored Glory an American Soldier Known but to God.”

Are you glad that Jesus knows you? Why he even knows the name of the soldier in the tomb of the unknown.

We do serve a wonderful God who knows all about us.  It matters little to me what others say about me, because in reality most of our critics know little about us; it does matter though what Jesus knows about me! Now that matters to me.

  

                                                                                                    Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞ Know with certainty that Jesus knows who you are.  The question is do you know Him?

Do You Know About Jim Valvano?

Bible Reading:  Hebrews 12:1-9

Key Verse: Verse 1 - “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,”

Key Words: run with patience

A Winner says, “Let’s find out;” a Loser says “Nobody knows.”

When a Winner makes a mistake; he says, “I was wrong;” when a Loser makes a mistake; he says, “It wasn’t my fault.”

A Winner goes through a problem; a Loser goes around it and never gets past it.

A Winner makes commitments; a Loser makes promises.

A Winner says, “I’m good, but not as good as I ought to be;” a Loser says, “I’m not as bad as a lot of other people.”

A winner listens; a loser just waits until it’s his turn to talk.

A winner respects those who are superior to him and tries to learn from them; a loser resents those who are superior to him, and tries to find chinks in their armor.

A winner explains; a loser explains away.

~  Sources Unknown

In 1993, suffering from terminal spinal cancer at the age of 47, former North Carolina State basketball coach Jim Valvano spoke with a reporter a few months prior to his death. He looked back on his life and told a story about himself as a 23-year-old coach of a small college team. 

"Why is winning so important to you?" the players asked Valvano.

"Because the final score defines you," he said, "You lose, ergo, you're a loser. You win, ergo, you're a winner."

"No," the players insisted. "Participation is what matters. Trying your best, regardless of whether you win or lose -- that's what defines you."

It took 24 more years of living. It took the coach bolting up from the mattress three or four times a night with his T-shirt soaked with sweat and his teeth rattling from the fever chill of chemotherapy and the terror of seeing himself die repeatedly in his dreams. It took all that for him to say it: "Those kids were right. It's effort, not result. It's trying. God, what a great human being I could have been if I'd had this awareness back then."

                        ~ Gary Smith of Sports Illustrated(1993)
 

                                                                                                    Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Are you doing your best for Jesus?  I hope so.

Do You Know These Four Chaplains?

Bible Reading:  John 15: 1-13

Key Verse: Verse 13 - “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Key Words: that a man lay down his life for his friends

Jesus is without a doubt man’s greatest friend.  He showed his friendship and love to us by laying down his life so we could have eternal life.

While Jesus is the greatest example of one laying down their life, there are others who died so men could live physically such as the four chaplains on  the S.S. Dorchester.

In January 1943, 903 GIs and four chaplains – George Fox, Clark Poling, Alexander Goode, and Johnny Washington – boarded the S.S. Dorchester.  On February 3, a German torpedo ripped into the ship.  “She’s going down!” the men cried, scrambling for lifeboats.  When one GI told the clergymen that he had lost his life jacket, the chaplain gave his up, saying, “I’m staying.  I won’t need it.”  One by one , the other three also gave up their life jackets.  The chaplains, arms linked and heads raised in prayer, stood on deck as the Dorchester slipped beneath the waves.  They were among 678 men lost that night.

 President Harry Truman later praised the four: “I don’t think in the history of the world that there has been anything in heroism equal to this.  It was the greatest sermon that was ever preached.”

                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:  

✞ What are you willing to give up so men can live forever spiritually?

Joy Comes In The Morning

Bible Reading:  Psalm 30

Key Verse: Verse 5 - "For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Key Words: joy cometh in the morning

There are some questions in regard to the background of this particular psalm, but whatever the occasion, the psalmist writes in the midst of adversity about the joy of tomorrow.  Reminds me of a story I read about tough days.

We all have those tough days.  Some are worse than others.  Like the one the hard-hat employee reported on his accident form when he tried to be helpful:

“When I got to the building I found that the hurricane had knocked off some bricks around the top.  So I rigged up a beam with a pulley at the top of the building and hoisted up a couple barrels full of bricks.  When I had fixed the damaged area, there were a lot of bricks left over.  Then I went to the bottom and began releasing the line.  Unfortunately, the barrel of bricks was much heavier than I was – and before I knew what was happening the barrel started coming down, jerking me up.

I decided to hang on since I was too far off the ground by then to jump, and halfway up I met the barrel of bricks coming down fast.  I received a hard blow on my shoulder.  I then continued to the top, banging my head against the beam and getting my fingers pinched and jammed in the pulley.  When the barrel hit the ground hard, it burst its bottom, allowing the bricks to spill out.

I was now heavier than the barrel.  So I started down again at high speed.  Halfway down I met the barrel coming up fast and received severe injuries to my shins.  When I hit the ground, I landed on the pile of spilled bricks, getting several painful cuts and deep bruises.  At this point I must have lost my presence of mind, because I let go of my grip on the line.  The barrel came down fast – giving me another blow on my head and putting me in the hospital.

I respectfully request sick leave.”

Tough days...yes, we all have them; but hold on, my child, joy comes in the morning.

 

                                                                                        Dr. Mik Rouse

What to do:  

✞Trust in the Lord with all your heart; yes, even during the trying days of life.

All Things Work Together

Bible Reading:   Romans 8:18-28

Key Verse: Verse 28 – "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

Key Words: all things work together for good

Have you ever had times in your life when you really had a hard time figuring out how the things in your life were working for your good?  I must confess there have been times when I have asked the Lord, “Lord, how can this be for my good?”  But, you know, on every occasion God’s Word proved itself true.

Like the man who was shipwrecked but managed to reach an uninhabited island... there, to protect himself against the elements and to safeguard the few possessions he had salvaged, he painstakingly built a little hut from which he constantly and prayerfully scanned the horizon for the approach of a ship.  Returning one evening after a search for food, he was terrified to find the hut completely enveloped in flames.  Yet by divine mercy this hard affliction was changed into a mighty advantage.  Early the following morning he awoke to find a ship anchored off the island.  When the captain stepped ashore, he explained, “We saw your smoke signal and came.”  Everything the marooned man owned had to be destroyed before he could be rescued.

I have a saying that goes...”God never does things to us; He always does things for us.”  So it is in your life today.  God is working all things out for your good, and I might add, for His glory.

                                                                                                    Dr. Mike Rouse                                                                                                            

What to do:  

✞ Rejoice during your trials, for God is at work.

Another Chance

Bible Reading: John 21:1-19

Key Verse: Verse 19 - "This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me."

Key Words: Follow me

I love to read success stories, particularly success after failure.  So it was in Peter’s life.  His greatest success came after his failure.

Jonas Salk, the great scientist and the discoverer of the vaccine against polio, understood the concept of being encouraging.  He was once asked, “How does this outstanding achievement, which effectively brought an end to the word polio in our vocabulary, cause you to view your previous 200 failures?”

His response (paraphrased) was, “I never had 200 failures in my life.  My family didn’t think in terms of failure.  They taught in terms of experiences and what could be learned.  I just made my 201^st discovery.  I couldn’t have made it without learning from the previous 200 experiences.”

Winston Churchill, too, was raised with encouragement.  He was not intimidated by errors.  When he made one, he simply thought the problem through again.  Someone asked him, “Sir Winston, what in your school experience best prepared you to lead Britain out of her darkest hour?”

Winston thought a minute and then said, “It was the two years I spent at the same level in high school.”

“Did you fail?”    

“No,” replied Winston.  “I had two opportunities to get it right.”

Aren’t you glad that God gives us another chance to get it right?

 

                                                                                            Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Don’t be discouraged; just keep on until you get it right.

Oh God - Oh Me

Bible Reading: Nahum 1

Key Verse: Verse 7 - "The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him."

Key Words: a strong hold in the day of trouble

During times of adversity we cry out to God; but when the adversity passes, we fail to remember our cry.

The night before they were to attack the German lines, a hundred men wrote letters home.  The chaplain, whose duty it was to censor the letters, put them in a mail pouch until after the battle.  When the battle was over, the men again wrote home, telling of their ordeal.  The overburdened chaplain had both sets of letters to censor.

Here is a sample of what he read before the battle:  “Dear Mother, we’re going to attack in the morning and I’ve been thinking of home and you, and I vowed to God that if I come through tomorrow, I am going to be a better man.”  Some even said, “I believe I’m going into the ministry.”

But after the battle, in the same handwriting, three days later, to a friend in another regiment: “Dear Joe: Can you get leave?  The last time we were in Paris, we had a hot time, didn’t we?  I’ve just come through a scorcher up front, and we were near death at every moment.  If you can get leave and meet me in Paris, boy, we’ll go out on the town!”  Before the battle: “Oh, God, if I get through tomorrow!”  After the battle: “Well, I got through, God, so I don’t need you anymore.”

For many people God is a very present help in time of trouble; but let the trouble pass, and God moves out of the picture.  And there are many people who, when they are sick, cry out, “Oh, God!” but when they get well, “Oh, me!”

 

                                                                                                    Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Never forget the same God Who delivers from adversity also allows it.

Learn to Compensate (Not Compromise)

Bible Reading:  Romans 12:1-8

Key Verse: Verse 6 – “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;"

Key Words: Having then gifts differing

May we do away with all the preliminary stuff and get right down to the nitty-gritty?  Some children have much greater handicaps than others and these young ones are destined for emotional turmoil in life.  You can see it coming like a storm brewing in the western sky.  They are not as attractive as the other kids.  They do not catch on to the academic requirements as do the other kids.  They are not as athletically inclined as are the others.  Why, early in life they are branded by their peers as a “reject.”

Though this may be hard to accept as a parent, it can be a positive if we, as parents, handle it correctly.  Remember a tree planted in the rain forest is never forced to extend its roots down; thus, any moderate storm can topple the weak-rooted tree.  Adversity can cause a child’s roots to go deep if we learn to compensate.  That means we have to counter-balance our child’s weaknesses by capitalizing on their strengths; and it is our job, as parents, to find these strengths.

Bobby Fischer, arguably the world’s greatest chess player, was asked by Merv Griffin what caused his desire to play chess.  Bobby Fischer’s response was one of “compensation.”  He said, “As a child I was not attractive, not very bright academically, and certainly not athletic.  My dad taught me to play chess.  Why, I could beat anyone at chess.  It became the means by which I was ‘accepted’ by my peers.”  He goes on to say, “You win a school or state championship at anything and you become an instant hero.”  While I certainly do not think our god is heroism, the point is to compensate.

Thomas Wolfe, the author of such best-selling books as You Can’t Go Home Again and Look Homeward, Angel, was the result of compensation.  Thomas could write; but he, by today’s standards, would be the school nerd.  However, his parents early in his life learned to compensate for their son’s weak areas by focusing on his strength and ability to write.

As parents, find your child’s strengths, whether it is music, writing, poetry, arts and crafts, mechanical or woodwork.  Not all of life is built around beauty, brains, and athletics.  Learn to COMPENSATE.  Always teach your children that no matter what their abilities and inabilities may be, Jesus will accept them where they are and for what they are!!

 

                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse                

What to do: 

✞Learn to compensate, not compromise.

✞Teach your child that everyone has different gifts, and not to be angry because they do not have the same gifts as others their age.  God made them special – just the way He wants them.

The Age of Identity

Bible Reading: Psalm 50

Key Verse: Verse 23 – “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God."

Key Words: and to him that ordereth his conver-sation (manner of life) aright

Much has been written about the search for identity, but I doubt that many ten-year-olds have much of that material.  So it falls on the parent(s) to talk with their child about their goals, strengths, weaknesses, hopes, and dreams.  The child who has been given a meaningful outlook on life and knows where he is going in life, the purpose of school, how to have friends, who not to have as friends, and where his strengths lie is certainly a fortunate individual.  But let me, for the sake of this article, describe a young person less fortunate.  We will just call him Johnny so that our less fortunate youth can at least have a name.

When Johnny went through elementary, junior high, and high school, he never excelled in anything.  He did not star in Little League.  He never learned to make model planes.  He had a hard time making friends.  He didn’t win the school safety award or the American Freedom badge.  He was never elected as class president.  Why, Johnny never really excelled at anything.

Then little Johnny suddenly became big John during his fifteenth year on this earth.  He developed pimples and blackheads; and wouldn’t you know it, his nose developed a slight hook to the left!  The boys considered him boring and the girls simply ignored the fact that he was around.  Big John never gave one serious thought to his future beyond high school.

In his sixteenth year, totally lacking in a true identity in who he was and where he was going in life, a group came along.  It could be any group, but usually it is the group with drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes.  They “accept” Big John and in one easy, smooth stride of acceptance, they take a meaningless, bland teenager and instill in him what they are, simply because he has found a group in which he can “fit.”

It is your job as parents to provide your child with a healthy identity during those early formative years at home by helping him realize his strengths and interest, by teaching him what to believe and how to behave.  If you fail to do this, somebody else will!

  

                                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Order your child’s conversation (manner of life) aright.