YOUR GREATEST EFFORT
«He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who keeps understanding will find good» (Proverbs 19:8).
PERSEVERANCE
Several years ago, had to preach in a congregation that I attended regularly. In the sermon, I tried to encourage the attendees as to the importance of reaching their goals in life and not conforming to the taste of defeat: «If you have not finished high school, it is time to do so! If you have cut short your professional studies, what are you waiting for to complete them?» And so I continued to mention examples of overcoming things that I considered important to believers. However, the next week, the preacher whose turn it was to preach seemed to contradict my words: «Why do we need pieces of official papers if when we go to heaven God will not ask us for any of that? You don’t need any of that because God loves you.» Later on, there was another preacher who seemed to boast about his low grades during his school years, because, according to him, these were not very relevant.
Well, well, sometimes we don’t seem to understand the elementary functions of education. Do we go to school to obtain a «piece of paper» that will accredit us with this or that academic degree? To think in this way is to not comprehend the meaning of education. Behind our educational effort is character formation. And that’s what we’re going to take to heaven. We go to school to give our greatest effort because we are building a character for eternity; we not only build it at school, but also at work, at home, in our neighborhood, and in our church. So you have to learn to give your best in the place where you are, because that forms your character. Traits such as indolence, irresponsibility, indifference, or tardiness—which can be developed during our years as students—have a disastrous effect on the different areas of our lives, including the spiritual experience.
It is important that you learn to give the best of yourselves wherever you are, whether at school, work, church, or playing sports. The attitude you take before each challenge reveals your character. Mediocre people won’t appreciate your accomplishments, on the contrary, they’ll pretend to denigrate them. But God will recognize each one of the efforts you made to achieve success.
Today pray to the heavenly Father to help you to strive to the utmost in the small and great things of life, so as to continue to build a character for eternity.
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Take From: Daily Devotions for Youth 2020
«A New You»
From: Alejandro Medina Villareal
Collaborators: Gezer Noria & Misael Morillo