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Do You Want To Be Successful? - Good Advice for Young People of All Ages

By Jeffery Canaday, Youth Director, Calvary Baptist Church, Monticello, Florida

How to Glorify Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ With Your Life By Applying the Principles and Practices of Fundamental Independent Baptists.

Part V – Living Within Your Means and Being Happy With What You Can Afford

You should carefully develop an economic lifestyle, your future happiness depends on it. However, it is important that you distinguish between economy and stinginess. Proverbs 11:24 says “There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.” An economic lifestyle does not forbid charity; it forbids wastefulness, so economy is the friend and source of charity, by practicing charity we are able to provide for ourselves and still be able to give to the poor and the less fortunate. There is an old saying "A penny saved is a penny earned." and another one "Take care of the cents and the dollars will take care of themselves." These are simply saying that you should be careful where your money goes. When you are considering who you will marry, remember that someone with a careful and saving disposition is worth a lot more to you than someone who has a wasteful view of money. Pride, envy and an extravagant lifestyle will lead to poverty which will then sometimes lead you to a life of fraud and dishonesty. If you are proud young person, you should remember what King Solomon said in Proverbs 16:5 “Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished”. Pride will lead you to want to live beyond what you or your parents can afford, and pride will ultimately lead you to poverty and a dependence on others.

Here’s another wise saying: "If you buy what you don't need now, you will, some day, be unable to buy what you do need." Do not get into the habit of wanting to buy everything you see just because it is nice, this temptation, if you give into it, will make slaves out of you and your parents, you should never let pride be your master. It is wrong for a young person to demand a style of clothing that their parents can’t afford just so that they will be able to strut in front of their friends. A young person prancing around in fancy, name brand clothes, while their parents struggle to make the mortgage payment on their house is shameful, would you want a person like that for your spouse? Not if you have any sense in your head, you won’t, so why be like that to your parents? What use or comfort is a young person who acts that way to their family? None, but in reality, just the opposite, a burden and a shame.

To see a young person, dressed in extravagance, and a lot of times with expensive accessories and footwear, showing off the latest and most expensive electronic gadgets and phones is a sickening sight but one that we see all to often. And remember, you should always take care of the things that are given to you, like your clothes, presents, etc., especially if they are just on loan, like your school books or someone else’s property. Someone worked hard for the things that are given to you, take care of your clothes and shoes, don't be ashamed if all your parents can afford are “discount store” brands. And don’t be ashamed if your clothes have patches on them or if they are “hand-me-downs”, it is a wonderful sight to see an intelligent, modest young man or woman with clothes and accessories that are within their means. This is the foundation of usefulness and success in life. This is how you save money for things you will need in the future. This is how you train to be a good steward with what the Lord gives you. Don’t worry about what your friends think, if you have the right kind of friends, they will admire you for it.

Never let commercials on television, or ads on the Internet or magazines think that they can sell you things that you don’t need. The people that are selling unnecessary, status symbol type items know that you are easily persuaded to spend money that should be used for a necessary purpose or saved for the future. They laugh at how weak minded you are, in fact, they depend on it to make millions upon millions of dollars from people who can’t afford it. Ask yourself, as a young person who should be focusing on worthwhile things, what do you need expensive jewelry, clothes, shoes, cologne or perfume, make-up, i-pods, MP3 players, cell phones with Internet Access, and similar things they are selling to easily manipulated weak minded people for. You should be someone who is known as a sensible person with no use for something that does not have real solid value and use, again, your worthwhile friends will admire you for it. Another thing that is easy to get caught up in is “I bought it because it was cheap”, beware of that trap also.

Remember, don't try to be the most stylishly dressed person at school or at Church, you should always be clean and wear clean, modest clothes. Don't be overly stingy either, there are things that are necessary for your comfort. The poor and sick need your charity, things like a day's work or some possession that you can spare that they need and will be a help to them. It will give them a bright spot in their day and make your conscience feel good as well. These are things you should pay for and do, but keep in mind that there are many traps set to catch the fruit of your labor, which you must always be on the look out for. Every lottery in the world is a swindle and you should leave them alone, if it sounds to good to be true, trust me, it is. Keep your eye on people selling things you do not need but only want, you are in danger of getting bit by them, and when they bite you they will laugh all the way to the bank with your (or your parents) hard earned money. They will be laughing because it was so easy to take advantage of such a dim-witted prideful person.