This podcast is directed to all young people, but primarily to young black men, young black women, and their parents. We are thankful for all the people who are fighting for legal justice and racial justice across the nation and all of the protesters who are standing up for various issues. But this podcast is about the man in the mirror. What are you doing for the glory of God, to make life better for others, for your family, and for yourself? This podcast is about living life in such a way that it cuts back on the chance of being harassed or killed by the authorities or anyone else and helps you to live the good life of peace and joy.
Jim Rohn said, “You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself.”
Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”
Today, I want to talk to you about being a leader and thinking for yourself.
Recently, I heard a story about five teenagers who decided to rob a house in Illinois. They went across the street to a particular residence, knocked on the door, and rang the doorbell. When no one answered, they broke in. It turns out that the owner of the house was asleep upstairs. When he heard the commotion, he awakened, got his gun, and came downstairs. He shot and killed one of the teenagers and wounded another.
Today, the four teenagers who survived are in jail for fifty years. They were not just sentenced for attempted robbery, but, due to state law, they — not the homeowner who shot the gun — are being held responsible for the death of their companion.
In an interview, one of the teens was asked what caused him to do what he did that day. He said the reason was that he was “just being a follower.”
The Bible warns us against being followers of those who would only lead us to do evil. Proverbs 1:10-16 says, “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.“
You can probably think of a time in your life when you have done something simply because your friends or someone else suggested doing it and you regretted it later. Sociologists call it peer pressure. You feel somehow that because everyone else is doing it, you have to do it too.
Many people have succumbed to that pressure and later wished they hadn’t. For example, the young man who went along with his buddies who were engaged in criminal activity because he wanted to appear cool and later got arrested along with them. Or, the young woman who was eager to get a boyfriend and have sex because that’s what all her friends were doing and she didn’t want to feel left out and she later got pregnant or got a sexually transmitted disease.
Let me encourage you to not be a follower. Don’t feel the need to go along with the crowd. Just because a lot of people are doing something does not mean that it is the right thing to do. You may not have the gift of leadership, but one thing all of us possess is the ability to think for ourselves. So, think for yourself. Ask yourself why you are doing what you are doing. If you do not have a reason other than the fact that others are doing the same thing then you need to reconsider what you are doing.
God gave each of us a brain and the ability to think. Thinking for myself, led by the Holy Spirit of God, has saved me a lot of time, trouble, and consequences down through the years and it will do the same for you.
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Now, in closing, in order to be saved — in order to get right with God — you cannot look at the man in the mirror, but the Man Christ Jesus. First Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can have a home in Heaven. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will. Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
God bless you.
Daniel Whyte III has spoken in meetings across the United States and in over twenty-five foreign countries. He is the author of over forty books. He is also the president of Gospel Light Society International, a worldwide evangelistic ministry that reaches thousands with the Gospel each week, as well as president of Torch Ministries International, a Christian literature ministry which publishes a monthly magazine called The Torch Leader. He is heard by thousands each week on his radio broadcasts/podcasts, which include: The Prayer Motivator Devotional, The Prayer Motivator Minute, as well as Gospel Light Minute X, the Gospel Light Minute, the Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message, the Prophet Daniel’s Report, the Second Coming Watch Update and the Soul-Winning Motivator, among others. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from Bethany Divinity College, a Bachelor’s degree in Religion from Texas Wesleyan University, a Master’s degree in Religion, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Master of Theology degree from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. He has been married to the former Meriqua Althea Dixon, of Christiana, Jamaica for over twenty-seven years. God has blessed their union with seven children. Find out more at www.danielwhyte3.com. Follow Daniel Whyte III on Twitter @prophetdaniel3 or on Facebook.
BCNN1 WP 