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| Character Journal No.15 | Initiative |
The Character Journal is a monthly e-zine designed to help parents teach Biblical character qualities to their children. Each month a different character quality is presented with suggestions for Bible lessons and projects. The length of time you spend teaching these principles to your children each day is not nearly as important as your sincerity and consistency. Begin each time with a relevant hymn or chorus. Then take a verse, theme or story from the suggestions below as the basis for your daily "Bible Time" with your family. Give relevant application of the lesson to your family; and don't forget to ask your children the questions: Who? What? Where? Why? When? and How? Get each member of the family involved by assigning different verses to be read. Finally, conclude your time with family prayer.
Bible Verses Related to Initiative
Spend an evening (or several) looking at just one of these verses at a time. Don't forget to ask your children the questions: Who? What? Where? Why? When? and How? Discuss with your family what each verse or story teaches about the character quality; and give vital application of how this quality can be applied to your family. Choose several verses to memorise together as a family during the month.
Since the English word "initiative" does not appear in the Authorised Version, we have included a list of verses which relate to this important character quality.
For a more complete study, we suggest you use the Online Bible which you can download free of charge from our web site at http://www.hlm.org/html/files.htm.
at Home
at Work/School
at Church
The "I Wills" of Initiative
-Character First! Education Series 2
"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven... for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matthew 6:20-21)
Christianna Reed - COMMIT
College Can Actually Decrease Initiative and Achievement
Carl Kellog had been taught that those who graduate from college earn more than those who do not. He believed it until he carried out a survey. To his surprise, he discovered that many who had not even graduated from high school earned more money than those with graduate degrees. He then discovered the flaw in the traditional statistics. Those who drop out of school because of drugs, immorality, or rebellion are put in the non-college classification and lower the statistics. He also found that those who graduate from college tend to work for someone else, but highly motivated young people with no college education tend to start their own businesses and be very successful.
HSC Letter, December1998/January 1999
Achieving True Success by Building a Character Family, IACC, Oklahoma City
General Grant was to be entertained at a banquet in the city of Houston, Texas. All that money could do to make the affair a success was done. The most notable men in the Lone Star State were present. After all were seated, the headwaiter approached the place where Grant was seated and was about to pour out the first glass of wine for the guest of the occasion. Quietly and unostentatiously Grant reached forward and turned his glass down. With the true spirit of Southern chivalry, every Texan present, in the same quiet manner, reached forward and turned his glass down, and for once in the history of banqueting in the Southwest a famous dinner was served without a drop of alcoholic liquor being drunk.
H.L. Smith
Next Sunday, the usher happened to seat both of these men one in front of the other. As usual after the service, no one greeted the other. The first man rose to stalk out forever. The second man turned, put out his hand and said, "Good morning, Sir. I'm glad to see you. Fine sermon wasn't it?"
Both were pleased at having made a friend and continued to come.
-Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations
Three Probing Questions
-Character Clues Game, IBLP
Six young ladies linger a while after church and ask each other, "What can we do?" They decided to meet that afternoon for a little prayer meeting. There a beautiful idea was born.
The next day they went to their pastor and asked if they could have printed some calling cards with a picture of the church on them and an invitation to come and worship with them. Then they went out two and two, ringing all the doorbells in the community.
At a rooming house near the church, a man read the card and listened to their little speech, shook his head and answered, "You don't want me, I'm a vaudeville actor. No Baptist church would welcome me." After being assured he would be welcome, he finally promised to attend one time, just to prove that they were mistaken. He did attend, again and again and again. He finally gave his heart to Jesus and joined old Walnut Street Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. Later he became pastor of a church in Boston, and it was through his ministry that Russell Conwell felt the call to preach. Conwell has led thousands to Christ and inspired other thousands to a closer walk with God.
-Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations
"Here's My Hand"
F. B. Meyer told of a revival meeting that was
dragging along without signs of success until one evening an elder arose and said,
"Pastor, I don't believe there is going to be a revival as long as Brother Jones and
I don't speak to each other." He went to Jones and said: "Brother Jones, we have
not spoken for five years, let's bury the hatchet. Here's my hand." A sob broke from
the audience. Soon another elder arose and said: "Pastor, I've been saying mean
things about you behind your back and nice things to your face. I want you to forgive
me." Many arose and confessed their wrongs and God began to visit them. A revival
swept over the community for three years.
-Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations
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His Eye for Sale
He had two good eyes. Never had either of them given him any trouble. But he could see with one. He had tried it, and although his vision was limited to some extent, he could still get around.Why not offer one of his good eyes to the hospital in the south? They would pay him good money, and he could-well, what could he do with the money? Buy himself a car? Get a new house? Make sure that he lived well for months to come?
No, he wanted to give the money to repair the church building in which he and a handful of his fellow Christians met from Sunday to Sunday. It was badly in need of some repairs. When it rained, the people inside were soaked. When it was cold, they were exposed to the bitter wind.
That's it! He would sell one of his eyes and give the money to the Lord. That would mean, of course, that he would be permanently disabled and disfigured; but he loved his Lord, and he wanted to do something for Him and for His people.
Arriving at the hospital, he offered his eye for sale; but the hospital authorities would not hear of such a thing. They immediately discouraged him and sent him back home, telling him that the members of his church should save in order to repair their church buildings. He should not have to sell his eye for that.
After this demonstration of love and sacrifice the members of his church did rally around, and although they were poor, desperately poor, repairs were duly made to the building.
Repairs were made, but it took one man to provide the incentive-one man with an eye for sale.
-The Prairie Overcomer
Taking The Initiative To Heal: Winning A Friend
Hindrances to Initiative
-Character First! Education Series 2
Over the last number of issues we've been looking at how to specifically pray for your children. We saw first of all the importance of self examination and the need to make sure that there is nothing in our lives that might hinder our prayers. Psalm 66:18 says, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." If you are a Christian parent, you cannot afford to allow sin and compromise in your life. There is a battle going on for the hearts and minds and even the lives of our children. We must be certain to deal with all hindrances that would nullify our prayer life in order that we can pray effectively for our sons and daughters. Because if YOU aren't praying for your own children, it's very likely that no one else is either!
We saw the importance of praying that our children will come to know Christ early in life. There is no greater joy or blessing for Christian parents than to lead their children to personal faith in Jesus Christ. Never take the salvation of your children for granted. Just because they attend church with you is no guarantee that they have ever accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. Pray for your children and grandchildren. Pray that those children will come to know Christ as Saviour at early age.
We also saw the importance of praying that our children will have a hatred for sin. Psalm 97: 10 says, "Ye that love the LORD, hate evil..." If our children are to love the Lord then it's essential that they hate evil.
Third, I encouraged you to pray that your children might understand the relationship between God's reproofs and their violation of Biblical principles. God wants us to understand that violations of His ways will have consequences in our lives. And wisdom is being able to see the connection between our violation of Biblical principles and the problems that we are experiencing.
Fourth, we saw that it is absolutely vital that we pray for our children's protection from the evil one. 2 Corinthians 10:4 says, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds." One powerful weapon that every Christian parent has is to pray a daily hedge of protection around each child. Job did this for his family and Satan complained because he was powerless against it (Job 1:9-1 0). We face a ruthless enemy who seeks to gain "ground' in our children's lives. They are facing temptations and pressures today that we never even dreamed about. And if the parents are not daily praying a hedge of protection around each child, they will be exposed and most likely succumb to all kinds of evil.
We want to continue by looking at more specific ways to effectively pray for your children.
Fifth, we need to pray for our sons and daughters that they will respect those in authority over them. Romans 13.1-2 says, "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation."
It is absolutely essential that we teach and pray that our children will understand the importance of this Biblical principle of authority. One of the major reasons why many of our young people are constantly making wrong decisions is because they have never been taught God's purposes for authority. God has designed a very precise plan and purpose for their lives but if they do not understand God's purposes for authority they will miss God’s ultimate potential for their lives.
Many of the conflicts and problems we experience in our lives are the result of violations of Biblical principles. If we fail to deal with these conflicts in our youth, we wilt encounter them time and time again throughout our lives. This is clearly seen in the area of our relationship towards authority
Many Christians today have difficulty submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ because they rebelled against the authority of their parents, government, employers, and local church. We need to see that all of these authorities have been designed and placed into our lives by a loving God; and we need to realise that rebellion against any one of these authorities constitutes rebellion against God.
God has designed authority to function like an umbrella of protection. As long as we remain under God-given authority, nothing can happen to us that God does not design for our ultimate good and His ultimate glory. But the moment we challenge and disobey our authority, we move out from underneath that umbrella of protection and expose ourselves to the destructive forces of Satan. That's why Scripture says that "rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft" (1 Sam 15:23). A person who is involved in witchcraft has given himself over to Satan and his power. Exactly the same thing happens the moment we step outside that umbrella of protection - we expose ourselves to the destructive forces of Satan. Satan's strategy is to get us outside that umbrella of protection because he knows he can't harm us as long as we remain under our God-given authority.
Next, in praying for our children we need to pray that they will desire the right kind of friends. Proverbs 13:20 says, "He that walketh with wise [men] shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." This is one of the major advantages of home education because the most destructive force in schools today is peer dependence, and parents must constantly work to protect their children from it. Peer dependence is caused by a graded school system and is one of the major causes of teenage rebellion. As a young person socialises with other people his own age, he becomes independent of family authority and dependent on the approval of his peers. The result is that the young person's peers, rather than his parents, become his primary authority (IBLP Advanced Seminar).
Children in Scripture are not commanded to obey their peers but their parents. In Ephesians 6, Paul exhorts children to be obedient to their parents in order that God would bless them and that things might go well for them. He said, "(Ephesians 6:1-3) Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother- (which is the first commandment with promise) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth."
As you look around at young people today, even Christian young people, many are constantly making wrong decisions and things are certainly not going well for them. In almost every case it can be traced back to peer dependence and to the violation of this basic Biblical principle of authority.
Look at how the Encyclopaedia Britannica describes the stated purpose of placing children of one age in the same classroom: "Adolescent peer groups serve a very real function in society. They provide a way in which children can learn to become independent of family authority."
Now let's stop here for a moment and examine the significance of this statement. What this article is saying is that peer groups foster rebellion. That is one of Satan's chief goals for each of our children - he wants them to become independent of God-ordained authority. As I mentioned earlier, God has designed parental authority to function like an umbrella of protection. But the moment our children challenge and disobey our authority, they move out from underneath that umbrella of protection and expose themselves to the destructive forces of Satan. That is why as I work with young people, I urge them to honour and obey their parents because the moment they disobey and rebel and step outside that umbrella of protection they expose themselves to the destructive forces of Satan. The article goes on to say.. .
"In modern society, maturity is equated with independence, with the ability to formulate one’s own judgements, and with the capacity to take independent action and live by the consequences of that action.
"Peer groups provide children with experience of egalitarian relationships not possible in the family. Through peer groups the child iv exposed to values and experiences of dozens of other families, many of which may be greatly different from his own. Through these contacts the child's horizons are broadened, his perception widened. "
May I also add that it is in this same way that a child's values can be changed - especially during those early formative years. For this reason it is absolutely essential that we protect our children from influences that seek to tear down and destroy the Christian values that have been taught in the home. The article continues...
"In order for peer groups to serve these important functions, the child must get out of the family and interact freely with children his own age. The School is ideal for this purpose. Its corridors and classrooms, clubs land activities, provide a natural and convenient setting for the young to socialise." - (Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Graded Education," pages 426-427, 1981)
The socialisation that takes place in school is not healthy socialisation, but promotes rebellion, insecurities, and contributes to the breakdown of the family in society. The exciting alternative is for Christian parents to take complete control of the education and socialisation of their children through home education so that they can teach them Christian values and train them how to stand alone for what is right regardless of what other people may say or do.
Real life does not limit a person to his peer group, but it requires skills that enable us to relate and interact with people of all ages. So a graded school system cannot provide for the proper socialisation of your children. When schools group children by ages, older examples are cut off and it is the rebels which usually rise to leadership. God designed teaching to take place within families with children of various ages - not classes of children all the same age. Someone has suggested that if God had wanted children to be in peer groups, He would have had them born in litters.
One of the great assets which home education can provide is the turning of the children's hearts toward each other and toward the parents, rather than their peers. It can also help overcome much of the destructive rivalry between siblings which takes place in many Christian families today (ATI Handbook).
We'll continue looking at more specific ways to pray for our children in our next journal.
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