Topic(s): Christian Life

1. Thou Shalt Love People, Not Just Use Them (Mt. 22:39). The greatest thing in the world is a person. The greatest thing about a person is his motives, and the greatest motive is love.
2. Thou Shalt Develop Thy Understanding (Mt. 7:12; 1 Pet. 3:6). “If every man’s care were written on his brow, how many would our pity share, who bear our envy now?”
3. Thou Shalt Compliment More Than Criticize (1 Pet. 3:10; Rm. 14:19). We should cover our neighbor’s fault with a cloak of charity; we may need a circus tent to cover our own.
4. Thou Shalt Not Often Get Angry (Eph. 4:26). If we are right, we don’t need to. If we are wrong, we can’t afford to.
5. Thou Shalt Not Argue (Eph. 4:32). It’s no use to win the argument and lose the relationship. Beware of the attitude which says: “In matters controversial, my attitude is fine. I always see two points of view—the one that’s wrong and mine.”
6. Thou Shalt Be Kind (1 Cor. 13:4). Be kind to people you meet on the way up; they are the ones you meet on the way down. It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.
7. Thou Shalt Have a Sense of Humor (Prov. 17:22). A sense of humor is to a man what springs are to a wagon. It saves him lots of jolts.
8. Thou Shalt Smile (cf. Ecc. 3:4) . No man is ever fully dressed until he has a smile on his face.  

Powder your face with sunshine,
Put on a great big smile.
Make up your eyes with laughter,
Folks will be laughing with you in a little while.
Whistle a tune of gladness,
Gloom never was worthwhile.
The future’s brighter when hearts are lighter,
So, smile, smile, smile. 

9. Thou Shalt Practice What Thou Preachest (Rm. 2:21). One example is worth one thousand arguments.
10. Thou shalt go to school under the Headmaster of the Universe (Jn. 14:6). He is the Master of Men, the Secretary of Human Relations—namely, Jesus Christ. He is the greatest leader the world has ever known. 

• I am too blessed to be stressed!

• It is better to appreciate things you do not have, than to have things that you do not appreciate.

• One who kneels to God can stand up to anything.

• We all live under the same sky, but we do not all have the same horizon.  —Konrad Adenauer

Children in Church

Topic(s): Child Rearing, Humor

• Three-year-old, Reese: “Our Father, Who does art in heaven, Harold is his name. Amen.”

• A little boy was overheard praying: “Lord, if you can’t make me a better boy, don’t worry about it. I’m having a real good time like I am.”

• A Sunday school class was studying the Ten Commandments. They were ready to discuss the last one. The teacher asked if anyone could tell her what it was. Susie raised her hand, stood tall, and quoted, “Thou shall not take the covers off the neighbor’s wife.”

• Jason sobbed in the back seat all the way home. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, he replied, “That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys.”

• I had been teaching my three-year old daughter, Caitlin, the Lord’s Prayer for several evenings at bedtime. She would repeat the lines of the prayer after me. Finally, she decided to go solo. I listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word right up to the end of the prayer. “Lead us not into temptation,” she prayed, “but deliver us some email. Amen.”

• One four-year-old prayed, “And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.”

• A Sunday school teacher asked her children, as they were on the way to church service, “And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?” One bright girl replied, “Because people are sleeping.”

• Six-year-old Angie and her four-year-old brother Joel were sitting together. Joel giggled, sang, and talked. Finally, big sister had had enough. “You’re not supposed to talk in church.” “Why? Who’s going to stop me?” Joel asked. Angie pointed to the back of the church and said, “See those two men standing by the door? They’re hushers.”

• A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3. They began to argue over who got the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. “If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, ‘Let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait.’” Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, “Ryan, you play the part of Jesus!”

• A father was at the beach with his children when the four-year-old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore where a seagull lay dead in the sand. “Daddy, what happened to him?” the boy asked. “He died and went to Heaven,” replied the Dad. The boy thought a moment and then said, “Did God throw him back down?”

 Of the People

Most of us have heard the famous phrase used by Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address: “Government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Many think that Lincoln invented this expression, but he did not. The phrase has been around for hundreds of years. In John Wycliffe’s introduction to his translation of the Bible in 1382, these words are found, “This Bible is for the Government of the People, by the People, and for the People.” Civil governments can only do so much. Civil authorities are ordained of God to assist in the governing of the secular and legal affairs of men. But, the best government is self-government guided by God. Each of us must use the Bible as the standard that governs our conduct. This is the finest government of the people, by the people, and for the people.   
—Darrell E. Beard, Tulepo, Mississippi