A friend of mine sent me an email a few weeks ago. His son was turning 13 and he wanted men who had been a part of his son’s life to pass on words or wisdom or encouragement. He would bind the notes and letters into a book and give them to his son. Below is what I wrote…felt like I wanted to share it here as well.
I heard a story once about how people who work at the Federal Reserve. There used to be a group of people whose entire job was to make sure the money that was being passed in our stores was the real thing. If someone passed faked money around it could really screw up our system and it was their job to keep that fake money off the streets.
There are several ways that they could have trained people to identify counterfeit money. They could have had them look at the best examples of the fake money that they had found; studying all of the flaws from the paper to the ink to the patterns on the bills, but that is not what they did. When they trained people to identify fake money….they had them fully understand what the real thing looked like. They studied and studied, they tested their knowledge to make sure that they were able to fully understand what the original true bill looks like. The trainers knew that for them to spot a fake, they had to know the true, real thing so well that they could quickly find flaws in the counterfeits.
I think you may know that I don’t believe in holding anything back. God asked Meredith and I to give it all to Him and we have done the best we can to try and follow through on His calling. We have spent the last 10 years of our lives trying to do all we can to fulfill the calling that He has placed on our lives. It’s not easy, it doesn’t always make you popular and sometimes it even makes you the target when people disagree with you.
So what are the things that I want to pass on to you?
1. Truth exists. There are a lot of people in this world who will tell you that there is no such thing as truth. They will say that truth is different for everybody and that what is true to you may not be true to someone else. Don’t believe that lie. Truth does exist.
2. Test everything. Become so familiar with the truth that you can quickly identify a counterfeit. Don’t waste your time studying all thing things that are false. Study the truth and test everything on the truth.
3. Be bold. When you find the lie…be willing to call it out. Don’t worry what others will think about you or what they may say. Be bold and stand up for what is true.
4. Do everything you do in love. People today are way too quick to divide and end relationships over disagreements. You may be called names and be accused of hating people that you disagree with. Don’t bend to pressure like that. Let your life of serving and loving others be so obvious that no accusation against you can stand.
5. The source matters. There are so many different people saying so many different things…the source of truth is of utmost importance. Don’t run here and there following the crowd and the latest fads. Truth does not change.
I don’t think it will surprise you to hear where truth is found. God has given us the source of truth and it is up to us to hold to His truth in love. Study the Word. Become so familiar with it that you can quickly identify a lie. Test everything against Scripture and be bold enough to be different and call out a lie when you see it. Most importantly, do it all in love. I have heard it said that we are to speak that truth in love…as Pastor Chris used to say – If someone is going to be offended, I pray that they are offended by the message and not the messenger.
You are an amazing young man. I pray that God will use you to change the world for Him. I will leave you with this verse that God has written for you.
Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you, hope and a future.
Rob