Category Archives: Tolerance

Quotes on Tolerance

  • Toleration—Let us be very gentle with our neighbors’  failings, and forgive our friends their debts as we hope ourselves to be forgiven.—THACKERAY.
  • There is nothing to do with men but to love them; to contemplate their virtues with admiration, their faults with pity and forbearance, and their injuries with forgiveness.—DEWEY.
  • Tolerance is the only real test of civilization.—ARTHUR HELPS.
  • If thou canst not make thyself such an one as thou wouldst, how canst thou expect to have another in all things to thy liking?—THOMAS A KEMPIS.
  • Let us often think of our own infirmities, and we shall become indulgent toward those of others.—FENELON.
  • Has not God borne with you these many years? Be ye tolerant to others.—HOSEA BALLOU.

Ten Commandments of Sportsmanship

Be a Good Winner

1. Deflect the Praise 

When you win, remember to recognize those who have made you successful. Instead of holding on to the praise you receive, pass it on to those who share in your success. A good winner shares praise with teammates.
2. Play By the Rules
Breaking the rules cheapens the victory. It is no different than attempting to steal something that is not yours. Every competitor who steps onto a court must agree to play by the same set of rules–or sit on the bench.
3. Praise the Good in Others
Good sports cheer for others’ successes. They don’t mock others’ failures. A good winner points out how well the opponent played.
4. Respect the Officials
Professional sports teams have learned the value of officials. Even the “televised instant replay” cannot make every call right. Though you may disagree with a call, always show respect to the one who made it.
5. Teach Others to be Successful
A good winner takes time to help others rise to the same level of success. A good winner is a role model and a coach to others who want to follow in his or her footsteps.

 

Be a Good Loser

6. Learn from Your Mistakes

A good loser reviews mistakes and learns from them so as not to make the same mistakes twice.

7. Avoid Trash Talking

A good loser doesn’t gain acceptance by putting others down. Displays of anger don’t erase defeat.
8. Congratulate the Winner
The mark of a real sport is one who can humbly acknowledge that on a given day at a given time, someone else was better.

9. Build the Whole Team

Because the whole team benefits when one player improves, a good loser invests in the others.

10. Return to Play Another Day

A good loser doesn’t quit. He or she prepares for the next game and comes back to win.

–Character First! Education Series 2

Ten Unchangeables (Craft)

Each of us has things in our lives which cannot be changed. It is important that we not only learn to accept these “unchangeables” in others but also in ourselves. Help the children accept the following unchangeables in themselves and others.

1. I am “One of a Kind”–The children should understand that they are special and no one else in the world is just like them.

2. My Birth Parents–No one can change who their birth parents are, even if not living with them.

3. My Brothers and Sisters–Just like birth parents, brothers and sisters by birth are something that cannot be changed.

4. Race–Each person has a particular race.

5. Mental Capacity–Each person is naturally more or less gifted at academics, sports, or mechanical skills.

6. Time in History–Each person is born on a certain day, in a certain year. We cannot change how old we are.

7. Gender–Each person is born as a boy or girl.

8. Order in My Family–Each person has a place in the order of siblings, either firstborn or perhaps the fourth among brothers and sisters.

9. Aging–Each person has physical changes that will naturally occur as he or she gets older.

10. Death–At some point, each of us will die.

In order to remember the ten unchangeables, give each child ten colored strips of paper and have them write one of the unchangeables on each strip. Then link the strips together to form a paper chain. Encourage the children to use the paper chains to remember the importance of accepting these things as part of their lives and making the best use of all of them.

–Character First! Education Series 2

Six Probing Questions Related to Tolerance

  • Do the irritations of others cause you to reject opportunities to help them grow spiritually?
  • Do you genuinely love a sinner while hating his sin?
  • Do you invite prominent people to your home to enhance your reputation?
  • Who are you excited abou helping to make successful?
  • Are you quick to acknowledge when you are wrong and take steps to correct it?
  • Do you grieve over the hurts you have caused others or simply ask forgiveness to clear your conscience?

–Character Clues Game

Beware of the “New” Tolerance

Twelve to 24 months from now pastors,  leaders, and parents in churches across our country are likely to wake up and say, “What happened to our young people?” The answer will be summed up in one word … tolerance.

In almost every Christian home, you will find two definitions of tolerance — one held by the parents, the other by the kids. Both think they are saying the same thing — but they aren’t. And parents are realizing it too late.

The traditional definition of tolerance is: “to recognize and respect (others’ beliefs, practices, etc.) without necessarily agreeing or sympathizing” (Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary). This is what you and I were taught.

But today’s definition — the one our kids are being taught — is vastly different. It says “every individual’s beliefs, values, lifestyles, and truth claims are equal.” In other words, all beliefs are equal. All values are equal. All lifestyles are equal. All truth is equal.

So what’s the problem? What happens when your child is taught that his beliefs and values are no different from a Muslim –or a homosexual — or someone involved in pre-marital sex? This is today’s tolerance. And it’s the number one virtue in America, especially among our youth.

Our kids are being taught that all truth is relative to the individual.  Knowing Right from Wrong doesn’t matter. To say something is right or wrong is  not being tolerant.

Josh McDowell – www.Josh.org

The “I Wills” of Tolerance

  • I will not confuse what is right with what is popular
  • I will expect the same of myself as I expect of others
  • I will look for ways to help others mature
  • I will accept my own unchangeables and the unchangeables of others
  • I will listen before I form an opinion

–Character First! Education Series 2

Character Definitions of Tolerance

  • Learning how to respond to the immaturity of others without accepting their standard of immaturity. Learning to accept others as unique expressions of specific character qualities in varying degrees of maturity (Character Clues Game)
  • Accepting others at different levels of maturity. (Character First!)
  • Realizing that everyone is at varying levels of character development (International Association of Character Cities)
  • The action or practice of bearing pain or hardship; the power or ability to endure something.  (The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary)

How to Demonstrate Tolerance

at Home

  • Focusing on family members’ strengths instead of their weaknesses.
  • A parent realizing that each child will grow and develop good character at different levels of enthusiasm and maturity.
  • Parents not showing favoritism to certain children.
  • Sons and daughters accepting that parents are still growing in character and are not perfect.
  • Family members being patient with each other.
  • Show kindness and acceptance to all – not just those you are comfortable with.
  • Be careful to understand the difference between rejecting the “sin” and not rejecting the “sinner.”

at Church

  • Refrain from telling others about what you disagree with in the pastor’s sermons – welcome those disagreements as motivations to search the Scriptures.
  • Make a point of inviting a different church family or individual to your home each month for a meal.
  • Look out for visitors and be the first to greet and welcome them to your church.
  • Pray with someone new each week in prayer meeting.