Key Verse: Verse 12 - “Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD."
Key Words: Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial
When I think of a child who’s always looking for a fight, I think of the sons of Eli. There are those unfortunate children who feel as though they must take every situation into their own hands. Let me explain.
The feelings which motivate one child to withdraw from his peers will urge a more aggressive young person to respond by fighting.
Instead of surrendering to their feelings of inadequacies, the fighter is angered by what they see; and as a result they walk around with a chip on their shoulder, daring anyone to “knock it off.”
When his family first came to America, this young man was bothered by the fact that he was a foreigner. His father would beat both he and his siblings with sticks and his fist. Once when he disobeyed, his father held a hot iron to his heels.
After his high school graduation, he began a desperate search to resolve his feelings of growing anger with no success. He attempted to be a successful horse racing jockey. He applied for a job at the Santa Anita Race Track, but officials thought he lacked the proper reflexes to be a professional jockey. Instead, he was given the job of a “hot walker” (someone who walks the horses around the track after their races so they can “cool down”). This was the most disrespected job in the profession. His anger grew even more.
Shortly thereafter he joined with the Arabs to fight against Israel. He now became a fighter taking his frustration, fear, and failure out on others. Thus his life of getting even with others began and continued for several years until June 5, 1968. In Los Angeles, California, presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, the brother of slain President John F. Kennedy, was leaving a political rally at the Ambassador Hotel. Walking through the back kitchen area, Kennedy was shot to death by an angry young Sirhan Sirhan who decided that he was tired of people running over him, and rather than surrendering he said, “I’ll fight.” What a tragedy!
Today we have many young ruffians walking around with a chip on their shoulder fighting angry because of their feelings of inadequacy. These young people need love, but most of all, they need Jesus.
Pray for our youth, and remember the young ones you are dealing with may not be as bad as you think. They may simply be crying out for someone to please love them.
What to do:
✞ Love them.
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