I’m a HUGE fan of the AWANA program and had the opportunity to speak again last Thursday night. I gave a talk called “Wisdom or Foolishness” to a group of kids aged 5-12 and their leaders (which included some pretty fun pictures!).
Here’s the audio:
I want to play a game with you that I’m going to call “Good or Bad”. I’ll show you something on the screen and you tell me if it’s a “good thing” or a “bad thing”. Sometimes it’s easy to tell if something is good or bad, sometimes it’s not. Let’s take a look.
Now I’m going to show you something different. These aren’t ”Good or Bad” — I want you to tell me if they are making a Wise decision or a Foolish decision.
You all seemed pretty good at that! You were able to tell if the person was doing something wise or foolish. But it’s not always that easy! So let’s look at how we can tell the difference:
Wisdom: You can tell something is a Wise decision because it is a good idea that will have a good ending. If you are wise, then you see things properly, you have a good idea what’s going to happen, and you know that after you have done it, God will be pleased, people will be blessed, and you will be healthier, happier and experience more joy.
Foolishness: The opposite of being wise is being Foolish. A person who is being foolish doesn’t do things properly, doesn’t think about what’s going to happen next. They don’t worry about what God thinks, they don’t worry about how others will be affected, they don’t really worry about how it will affect their lives in the long run, but only hopes they will be happy after they do it
Most of the time, it’s easy to tell the difference between something that is bad (a sin) and something that is good. God gave us a lot of teachings in the Bible that show us good from bad, right from wrong. We have the 10 Commandments, and the teachings of Jesus, and of the Apostles and Prophets that tell us right from wrong, good from bad, sin from righteousness. And God has given us a good gift called a conscience – and if we are a Christian, then we have an even better gift called the Holy Spirit – Who tells us the difference. Sometimes we don’t listen to our consciences, or the Holy Spirit, but in our hearts we still know if doing something is good or bad, right or wrong, sin or not a sin.
What’s harder than knowing if something is “Good” or “Bad” is knowing whether something is “Wise” or “Foolish”. Sometimes something will not be a sin, but it will still be a foolish idea. Sometimes it’s hard to think ahead to know if God will be pleased, if people will be helped, or if we will be happier in the long run. Sometimes this is because doing the wise thing takes a long time, and we don’t see what happens for a while.
Two More Examples:
The first is eating candy. Is eating candy a sin? Does God say we can’t eat candy? No, eating candy is not a sin. We are allowed to have candy, and I’m very glad for that!
But say your mom or dad buys you some Easter candy. They give you a chocolate bunny, some chocolate eggs, some marshmallow peeps, some m&m’s and a whole bag of jelly beans – lots of candy. Now, is it a sin to eat all of the Easter candy at once? No, it’s not bad. There’s no verse that says you shouldn’t eat all your easter candy at once. It’s not a sin. They were given to you to eat, and they are yours.
But let me ask you this… is it Wise to eat all of your Easter candy at once? It’s not a sin, but that doesn’t mean it’s Wise, right? No, it’s Foolish! Why? Because you will feel sick, and you won’t have any left for later, and you probably won’t enjoy it as much, and you won’t have any to share… there’s lots of reasons that Foolish. It’s not a sin, but it’s foolish.
Here’s another example. It’s Wednesday evening before bed, and you are all done your school and your chores. You just got a new game to play and you can’t wait to play it. So you ask your mom and dad if you can play your new game and they say YES!
You go to your room and then realize that you haven’t memorized your verse for AWANA yet. AWANA isn’t until tomorrow, but you know that you have a busy day tomorrow. You might be able to fit it in at lunch, but you’re not sure. What is the Wise thing to do?
Let me ask you this: Would it be a sin to play your new game? No! Your parents said it would be ok and you worked hard on your school all day. Playing games isn’t sin. Would be more Wise to play the game or memorize the verse for AWANA. Why? That’s harder to do though, isn’t it?
When you are trying to figure out what the wise thing to do is, it’s important to think about what’s going to happen later, do what pleases God, what blesses people and what will make you healthier and happier. Playing that new game might be fun, but it would be wiser to learn the verse so you can know more about Jesus, please God, be ready for AWANA, be able to help others, and have the joy of the bible in your heart. Sometimes wise living isn’t easy, but in the end it is the most rewarding.
Often, if you listen to your mom or dad, their biggest problem isn’t figuring out what is good or bad (what is sin or not-sin) but trying to figure out what the wisest thing to do is. They are trying not to do anything foolish. And more often than not, if you ask them why they are sad, or upset, or frustrated they will say “I did something foolish, or someone did something foolish to me.”
4 Ways To Help Make Wise Decisions:
If you come to a situation where you have a choice, and you know that it’s not choosing between something Good or Bad… it’s not about sinning or not sinning… but having to choose between what is Wise or Foolish, here’s what you should do:
1. Pray – If you are a Christian, then you know that Jesus loves you, He died for your sins, and He lives in your heart. He not only wants you to talk to Him in prayer, but if you are listening, He will also talk back to you. Not usually in a voice you hear with your ears, but one that you hear on the insides. I can’t say exactly how Jesus will talk to you, but I know that He does.
And if you’re not a Christian, and you don’t talk to Jesus, then I invite you to realize that you are a sinner, that you’ve done bad things, that you need to be saved from your sin. Ask Jesus to forgive you, and then to teach you how to live wisely as a forgiven Christian.
2. Read the Bible – Someone once told me that 95% of everything we need to know is written in the Bible, and that we don’t need to worry as much about the other 5%. Chances are, the advice you are looking for is written in the bible. In fact, when Jesus talks to you in your prayers, He will often speak by pointing you at Bible verses you have read, learned and memorized! That’s why your AWANA leaders work so hard to help you learn the Bible! So you can know Jesus and live wise lives. So, after praying, think of all the verses you know, and think if they will help you make the decision. If you don’t know any verses then here’s the next thing to do:
3. Ask an Older Christian that you trust – Talk to your brother or sister, mom or dad, or grandma or grandpa, if they are Christians. Talk to an elder at church, or your pastor, or the preacher on Sunday. There is nothing that older Christians like to do more than to listen to the hearts of the young Christians they love and help them live wisely! Make sure it’s someone that you trust, and that you know loves Jesus, otherwise they might try to give you worldly advice, or say something that sounds wise but is really foolish. It’s best to talk to older Christians who you know love Jesus.
4. Trust in God’s Love – If you are trying to be Wise and make the right decision, and you want to live wisely, and you want to do good, God is amazingly able to fill in all the bits you might mess up. The bible says that “love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pe 4:8) and what that means is that God is happy when your heart is in the right place. Sometimes God will work miracles to help you out, even if you’re make some mistakes along the way, because He knows you’re trying to please Him and live wisely. If your heart is in the right place, even if you mess up God will forgive you and other Christians will forgive you.
So, if you’ve prayed about it, and read the bible about it, and talked to older Christians that you trust, then go ahead and live out what you think is right. God loves the heart of a person who wants to do the right thing, and loves to help you out even when you might not be doing it exactly right. He’s pretty amazing that way.
My prayer, and the prayer of your leaders is that you will live good and wise lives, listening to Jesus, loving your bible, and learning from older Christians who love you.
