By Sulaiman Momodu
What would you do if you invited someone into your home but as soon as the individual arrives, he or she starts using profanities and breaking all the rules? What would you do if you set up an enterprise or an organisation and you noticed that a staff member is very quarrelsome, comes to the office late, abuses drugs, and is blatantly unreliable? Or what would you do if you were a pastor and one of your members loves stealing the offering and on top of that brings juju to church?
Congratulations as we begin the second half of 2024 with yet an uncertain future. What will happen in the next six months of our temporary life on earth?
In our contemporary world, most of us sadly admire people who have acquired a lot of material possessions: money, cars, mansions etc regardless of how they got such wealth. However, the actual wealth that we should be striving for are life-transforming values. Would you admire a wealthy notorious armed robber or a very rich corrupt public servant? Where are our standards? Where are our values?
You see, whether you are the son or daughter of a minister or governor, if you misbehave in a school with high standards for instance, you would be expelled. Bad behavior is simply unacceptable. Beyond academic education though, are we preparing our children for the future? Always remember that the home should be the first school for the child.
In our world today, it is sad that animals, including dogs, are trained to fish out drug traffickers. Are we spending quality time and training our children about values and to say NO to drugs and other vices? Please note that academic education is good, however, having paper qualifications, sometimes through dubious means, would only produce people without values and with a penchant for stealing in public offices.
As we begin the second half of 2024, it’s time for a mid-year evaluation. Did you set any New Year resolutions? Did you resolve to set high standards and become more reliable, trustworthy, and more prayerful? Did you resolve to become a person of peace, integrity etc? Over the years, I have discovered that most unprogressive families or nations have very low values or standards: they do not believe in order, hard work, self-discipline, or transparency; they believe in corruption, greed, violence etc.
If I may ask, if you had a few more minutes to live, what type of family or legacy would you like to leave? My encouragement to you today is Mathew 6:33 (seek first the Kingdom of God). Don’t follow the crowd! John 10:10 says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
Please evaluate your life today and strive for high standards or values. Evaluate relationships and habits that are not adding any value to you. Once again, regardless of your humble roots, please set high standards in your home and life, be committed to them, and testimonies await you. Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, once said: “We are never defeated unless we give up on God.” Please act on the Word of God! As we step into the month of July, may all your fears and worries be replaced with hope and happiness and may your dreams turn into reality.
