lesson

A Confession and A Lesson

/ Troy Rogers / Leave a comment

confessionRecently, my children were exposed to something that I really wish they hadn’t been. There was an individual who started behaving very poorly in their presence. The details aren’t important, so I will leave them out. However, my children heard some things that were untrue, and were presented in a very ungodly way.

Confession: When I heard about the situation, Immediately I was angry. Not just angry, but so angry It felt like my blood was boiling. Maybe angrier than I have ever been. Not just because of what was said and done by this individual, but because it happened in the presence of my children. You have heard of “Mamma Bears” well, I was morphing into “Daddy Tyrannosaurus Rex”. I wanted to fly off the handle. I wanted to “fix” the situation by taking a “stand”. Never mind that whole, being slow to wrath thing (Proverbs 19:11, Proverbs 14:29, Proverbs 29:11, Proverbs 15:18). I must confess, I was not following these principles in my thinking.

            The Lesson: As I was putting my children to bed that evening, I told them that I was so sorry that they heard the things that they did. My daughter said, “Daddy, the Bible tells us that we should pray for those people. Can we pray for them together?” As she held out her hand towards mine.

Wait a second! That surely couldn’t have been what Jesus meant when He commanded His disciples to love their enemies, and to pray for those who persecuted them?!? (Matthew 5:44). Surely Jesus wouldn’t actually expect us to take a situation where someone behaves so poorly, and for us to not retaliate (Matthew 5:38-42). Surely all of those things are nice, well and good, but… Certainly are not principles to be applied when someone is being so incredibly rude. Surely then, we have a “right” to fight back… Then we turn our eyes to the cross, and we find Jesus praying for those who were literally, actively killing Him (Luke 23:34). I guess Jesus meant those things He said.

I thank God for my children daily. I also thank Him for the lessons that they teach me. Adults (like me) hear the teachings of Jesus, and we like them. They sound great in a book, but when we are faced with the situation in front of our face, we look to justify why that teaching really doesn’t apply here… Children, remind us that it does. It is no wonder that Jesus also said, “unless you become like children you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:3). I write this as a reminder to myself, Jesus meant what He taught, even when it hurts. He preached it, He practiced it, children understand it. It is time I do as well.

In Him,

Troy

“What Impression Are You Making Today?”

/ Troy Rogers / Leave a comment

It was Friday morning, the last day of a week long church camp. I rolled out of my bunk convinced that someone had traded out my mattress for a bag of rocks while I was sleeping. Went about my normal routine, took care of the hygiene stuff, and got my lawn chair out and began to study a little from God’s Word. The campers began to wake up, groaning, and tired (like I said, it was Friday!) I hurried them down to the flag pole for our morning devotional, trying to energize them for the day, which was really hard since I felt zero energy on this particular morning.

The cabin of boys assigned to lead the Devo began, we sang through a few familiar songs, listened to a scripture being read, bowed our heads for a prayer, then, it happened. Something that woke me from my slumber. The boy giving the devotional thought began to tell a story about someone he looked up too, someone he gained inspiration from, then began to tell about how this mystery man had given a lesson 6 years ago that he would never forget, then he informed the camp, that the “mystery man” was me… WOW!

2 thoughts immediately popped in my head.

#1. He needs better role models.
#2. I didn’t even remember the lesson that he remembered me giving!

As he went on, the thoughts began to come back to me, and I did remember the lesson. But, it had been far removed from my memory.

What is the point?

The point is this, you truly never know when someone is watching, listening, observing, admiring, taking notes, and modeling their lives after yours! This is not a post to brag on myself (anyone who knows me, knows that) this is simply a reminder, that we need to forever have the same thought as Paul when he wrote:

1 Thessalonians 4:1 and urged Christians to “excel still more”

And 1 Corinthians 11:1: when he reminded us that we need to be living lives so that we can say to our children, friends, family, anyone who is around us “walk, talk, act, like me, because I am living like Jesus!”

Shine for Him today!