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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 IV – Some Good Advice – Rules To Live By

FRIENDS – The places that you go to, and the people you hang out with, will have almost everything to do with shaping your character in the eyes of the world, as well as in fixing the habits that you will have for the rest of your life. Just as the Programmer writes a computer program, your life long habits and thoughts will be written by the friends you choose to be around. Proverbs 13:20 says “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” Your “so called” friends that drink, use drugs, steal, swear, or curse, are probably not going to help you in any way or be of any real use to you. In fact, the opposite will be true, they will drag you down where you really don’t want to be. Of course, you must never make them feel like you are better than they are, but you should not hang with them. A rule you should live by is that you should never hang out with people that you would be ashamed for other people to associate you with. Because, believe it or not, you will be associated with the people you hang with. That’s because a cheesy old saying is very true, "Birds of a feather will flock together", everyone may not admit it but everyone believes it. It is a real shame that very often a good person gets in trouble and is labeled as bad just because of bad choices of the friends they hang with. Most of the time, young people would not even consider letting their parents choose their friends or even give advice about it. This is a truth, as a general rule, parents know better than you do which friends are best for you to hang out with, and you should listen to them very closely when they talk to you about your friends. Going to places that encourage wicked behavior (raves, dances, unsupervised parties, etc.) are not the kind of places where you would learn moral habits, and they can be costly, not just in money but in your reputation. You have no idea of how important it is that you reach adulthood without a police record associated with your good name. You can never be too careful when protecting yourself, and your name, from the misfortune of poor choices in friends.

PERSONAL CONDUCT - How you act, your good behavior, in front of your friends will be to your tribute in how they, and others, look at you. If your language is always clean, if your jokes are modest and reasonable and your actions are always in good taste, they will respect you. When you are at Church, do whatever it takes to act like you know you are supposed to, always listen to the sermon, even if you don’t agree with what’s being said, and then leave without making a scene. Don’t talk loud or laugh inappropriately or carry on foolishly with your friends while you are in Church. Never dress worldly or act as if you are better than others, all of these things do not impress regular people, as a matter of fact, it’s disgusting to them. Never allow yourself to talk in a proud or “holier than thou” way, always speak plainly, just like you do when you are at home or around your friends at school. Walk in a normal way when you are at Church, don’t strut around like a rooster, it’s a sad sight to see young men and ladies coming into Church acting proud and haughty. While you may think you are cool, regular folks will think you don’t have any common sense. One important thing that you should remember, the older Saints in the Church have learned that the only person they have to please is our Lord, Jesus Christ, and in pleasing Him, they are naturally pleasing to others around them. This is a pearl of wisdom, learn it now and you will be much happier in your walk through life.

If you don’t have to, don’t talk about the shortcomings of other people, they may start looking for your faults and I guarantee you that they will find them. Never, ever, praise your own good looks, how well you dress, how great your education is, how rich your family is or how much better your religion is than theirs. Listen to this old saying that’s very true “self-praise is half scandal”, in other words, if you are willing to praise yourself, the next step may be thinking you are better than others and deserving of things you are not entitled to, which will lead to unacceptable behavior. Proverbs 27:2 says “Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.”

Never let anyone, not matter how uneducated or poor, think that you are better than them, Proverbs 11:2 says “When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom” and if you think you are better than others in your heart, I promise it will be followed by shame. Proverbs 18:12 says “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility”, when your beauty, wealth, learning or good name makes you proud, you have good reason to feel uneasy because destruction is sure to follow. If it is honor you want, and you should, do what the proverb says and humble yourself. If you want people to love you, go up to that uneducated, poor, unattractive and unknown person and be their friend. Not only will you gain a loyal friend for life, others will look up to you because they will see good in you, they will see our Lord, Jesus Christ, Oh how you can use your life to glorify Him! If someone is looking to make a scapegoat out of a person because of a mistake they have made, apologize for that person, they might apologize for you when you make a mistake.

Always be happy and in a good mood when you are around other people, studies have shown that a happy person is more successful than a person who is not. I believe this is for two reasons: 1. if you are always happy in every situation, others will be affected by your attitude and they will want you around them, and 2: if you are unaffected by circumstances, in that you remain happy, calm and focused, people will have confidence in you to be able to handle the situation in a crisis.

Everyone has an opinion about everything, but don’t always express your opinion unless someone asks you for it. If you constantly have something to say about everything, people will think you are a “know it all”. Proverbs 10:19 says “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise”, in other words, “a fool talks all the time”. Always try to learn something when you are with a group of people, also, if the conversation turns to something that is not appropriate to talk about, try to bring up a subject that would benefit someone in the group. Never waste your time or the time of others talking about something that is not honorable, truthful and pure.

TOBACCO - The use of tobacco in any form is dangerous and a hazard to your health. It is a filthy habit that is expensive and should be avoided at all costs. Never try tobacco even once, for some it is a tremendous temptation that will be irresistible after just the first taste. If you never try it, tobacco will never get a hold on you. If you have tried it and are now addicted to tobacco, do whatever it takes to quit, if you don’t, you will die a slow and painful death. That is the truth, it will kill you, it is not cool or hip and you will not escape. Tobacco is BAD, period.

ALCOHOL - Never use alcohol for any reason. One in ten people who try alcohol will become an alcoholic, this is a cold hard fact. Alcoholism is fatal, always, and as you die over several years, you will cause everyone that you love tremendous pain and suffering. Your life will be miserable and of no use to God, you will even encourage others to join you in your misery and lead them to their death as well. Alcohol kills more people every year than all other drugs combined, leave it alone. You should never enter inside of a bar or take a drink to be more sociable at a party. These little beginnings will end in painful results. Millions of people have been completely ruined by alcohol, you have every reason to BEWARE.

DRUGS - One of the most severe conditions facing our nation is the soaring number of young drug users. Many young drug users will quit school or, if they don’t, they will remain and negatively influence other students to use drugs. Drug users are more vulnerable to disease, including the HIV/AIDS virus, than ordinary people, mainly because their immune system has been damaged by drug abuse and they are more vulnerable to contract diseases. Don’t be drawn into the trap of drugs because like alcohol, it is always fatal. Don’t walk, RUN from drugs.