Topic(s): Christian Life

Everybody should learn lessons from young people. Paul told a young preacher named Timothy to be an “example of the believers…in charity” (1 Timothy 4:12) so that others could be better Christians because of Timothy’s example. “Charity” means “love.” There’s an entire chapter of the Bible (1 Corinthians 13) devoted to telling people the right way to love. Our subject in this study of love will be a young man named Samuel.

Samuel loved God more than any humans (even more than his own family). Samuel did care for the people around him, but because he put God first in his life, he loved people in the way God wanted him to love them.

Samuel loved and respected his mentor, Eli. Eli was the high priest in the tabernacle. Late one night, God told Samuel that some awful things were going to happen to Eli. The next morning, Eli was eager to hear what God had said. Here’s what happened. “Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I. And he said, What is the thing that the LORD hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee. And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good” (1 Samuel 3:16-18).

It was very hard for Samuel to tell Eli that the high priest’s family was going to be cursed. It hurt Samuel, and it hurt Eli. Why did Samuel let Eli know a truth that would hurt him deeply? Because Samuel loved Eli too much to tell him a lie. Samuel also loved God too much to alter, or even “water down,” God’s message.

People who love God love people, and want souls to go to heaven. People who love always tell people the truth about their spiritual condition. However, it’s often difficult for people to tell the truth in today’s society.

It’s hard for preachers to preach the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), because preachers do not like to offend people (sometimes the truth offends people). Preachers still have the obligation to tell people what they need to hear to help them go to heaven, because they love souls.

It’s hard for elders to tell people the truth in love, because sometimes that may mean looking someone in the eye and saying, “you are in a lost condition, and unless you repent, the church will be forced to withdraw fellowship from you.” However, elders who love souls must tell the truth, even when it’s difficult.

It’s painful for many people to tell others about what they need to do to be saved, because sometimes people that are close to the ones that are spreading the Word have not done what they must do to obey the Gospel. Christians will still share the Gospel, though, because they love souls.

In order to be examples of the believers, we must love like Samuel loved God and Eli.

Hugs Are Important in the Home

Topic(s): Love, Family

Some counselors recommend two hugs a day, just for maintenance! Consider these words written by Dean Walley concerning hugs:

It’s wondrous what a hug can do. A hug can cheer you when you’re blue.
A hug can say, “I love you so,” or, it can say, “I hate to see you go.”
A hug is “Welcome back again,” and, “Great to see you, where’ve you been?”

A hug can soothe a child’s pain, and bring a rainbow after rain.
The hug, there’s just no doubt about it—we scarce could survive without it!
A hug delights and charms; it must be why God gave us arms.
Hugs are great for fathers and mothers, sweet for sisters, swell for brothers.
And chances are, your favorite aunts, love them more than potted plants.

Kittens crave them, puppies love them; heads of state are not above them.
A hug can break the language barrier, and make your travel so much merrier.
No need to fret about your store of them; the more you give, the more there are of them.
So stretch those arms without delay, and give someone a hug today!

The human touch is powerful medicine overlooked. There are some crucial times for families to think about hugs:

• When you get up in the morning.
• When you part for the day.
• When you come together in the evening; and,
• When you retire for the night.

Have you hugged your kids today? What about your husband or wife? Take the time to make a difference in somebody’s day. Some people go days and even months without a hug from anybody. Alert your family members to such needs and share your hugs with others!

—Jim Roberts

“...a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing” —Ecclesiastes 3:5

The Lesson of the Ants

Topic(s): Evangelism, Gospel

Several missionaries were having tea one afternoon, when an ant appeared on the white tablecloth, made its way to a tea cake, walked around it, and finding nothing to eat, made straight for the sugar bowl. After eating several bits, it went off with a small piece. They watched it disappear underneath the door. It soon returned with several of its relations. They climbed the table leg, entered the sugar bowl, and ate their fill. They then departed, each with a piece of sugar in its mouth. But it did not end there—presently a swarm of ants arrived to partake of the same sweet food.

These ants teach us a great lesson. The first went and told others the “good news,” who, in turn, went and told the glad story to many more. Like Isaiah, the demoniac, the woman of Samaria, and others, we must “go and tell” the glad story of God’s redeeming love!

—Arthur Peterson

“Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy” (Psa. 107:2).
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“God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change...the courage to change the one I can ... and the wisdom to know it’s me.”