Key Verse: Verse 23 – “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God."
Key Words: and to him that ordereth his conver-sation (manner of life) aright
Much has been written about the search for identity, but I doubt that many ten-year-olds have much of that material. So it falls on the parent(s) to talk with their child about their goals, strengths, weaknesses, hopes, and dreams. The child who has been given a meaningful outlook on life and knows where he is going in life, the purpose of school, how to have friends, who not to have as friends, and where his strengths lie is certainly a fortunate individual. But let me, for the sake of this article, describe a young person less fortunate. We will just call him Johnny so that our less fortunate youth can at least have a name.
When Johnny went through elementary, junior high, and high school, he never excelled in anything. He did not star in Little League. He never learned to make model planes. He had a hard time making friends. He didn’t win the school safety award or the American Freedom badge. He was never elected as class president. Why, Johnny never really excelled at anything.
Then little Johnny suddenly became big John during his fifteenth year on this earth. He developed pimples and blackheads; and wouldn’t you know it, his nose developed a slight hook to the left! The boys considered him boring and the girls simply ignored the fact that he was around. Big John never gave one serious thought to his future beyond high school.
In his sixteenth year, totally lacking in a true identity in who he was and where he was going in life, a group came along. It could be any group, but usually it is the group with drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. They “accept” Big John and in one easy, smooth stride of acceptance, they take a meaningless, bland teenager and instill in him what they are, simply because he has found a group in which he can “fit.”
It is your job as parents to provide your child with a healthy identity during those early formative years at home by helping him realize his strengths and interest, by teaching him what to believe and how to behave. If you fail to do this, somebody else will!
What to do:
✞ Order your child’s conversation (manner of life) aright.
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