Years ago we were sitting on our front porch taking a break in the tropical heat chatting with the father of our teenage daughter’s best friend. He was reminiscing about his family’s long years in this primitive third-world country where we now served alongside him. The stories began to flow and I’ve never been the same. Knowing a real-life hero changed my outlook on the small inconveniences in my own life. His memories of tribal warfare when he hid his family under a teepee of plywood inside their hut to protect them from stray arrows; when the tribespeople would stand around the family’s hut staring in to see water magically bubble, (they had never seen water boil because they had no pans), or watch them brush their teeth. The year his wife became pregnant and the tribeswomen were surprised because they now realized his companion was a real woman. They had assumed because the husband treated his wife with kindness and respect, yes, as an equal, that she must not be a woman. Women in their society were treated as property and friendships were only man to man or woman to woman. Then when the foreign family returned from birthing their baby in civilization, the tribeswomen asked the father if he would give them a white baby, too! In spite of setbacks like having 13 of his fledgling students martyred, as the years passed he saw indigenous churches take root and flourish. His stories lit a fire within me. One person with a heart to serve can have a profound impact.
“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:24 (New Living Translation)
I have learned how to serve by watching others serve. Beginning in junior high, I met missionaries who were contributing to the welfare of people in third world countries. A whole new world opened up to me and their stories made me willing to give up the comforts of home and live overseas in order to contribute, too. While living abroad for ten years, I got to see first-hand heroes of the faith with all their faults selflessly serving to the best of their abilities. Are the young people in your life getting to meet people who are changing the world for good? Or at least hearing/seeing/reading about them? Do they have real-life heroes to copy who exemplify loving others? See below for a short reading list of books about true heroes.
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, … encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24 (New International Version)
“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works
Let us think of one another and how we can encourage each other to love and do good deeds
Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good.
Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” Different translations of the phrase in Hebrews 10:24
I’ve learned to love by example. Being loved by others has taught me how to love. I’ll bet it’s the same for you. During my lifetime I’ve been privileged to experience people l respected love and care for me. This has had a lasting influence on me. Benefitting from their love in action encouraged me to pay it forward. I learned so much in Sunday School and camp that I decided to teach children. I felt so valued and cared for as a guest in loving homes that I wanted to offer the same hospitality to other hurting people. So as you unselfishly do things to make your children’s or grandchildren’s lives better, you’re showing them what love is like. Your model of love will stay with them for the rest of their lives. They’ll pass on the loving gifts you have given them. Pretty important, huh?
“My prayer for you is that you may have still more love—a love that is full of knowledge and wise insight. I want you to be able always to recognize the highest and the best, and to live sincere and blameless lives until the day of Jesus Christ. I want to see your lives full of true goodness, produced by the power that Jesus Christ gives you to the praise and glory of God.” Philippians 1:8 (Phillips)
Often times the loving thing isn’t the fluffy, feel-good thing. Often times the loving thing is the hard thing. Not agreeing with your teen’s self-destructive choices. Not encouraging a young adult to take a good paying job that would put her in a compromising situation. Not going along with a relative’s get-rich-quick scheme. This isn’t to say we should be unkind when we can’t agree with our loved one’s choices. It does mean we don’t pretend that there will be no consequences to their bad choices. They may not even allow us to express our concerns at all. But silence has its own power. Not the cold shoulder kind of silence that is antagonistic, but the silence that quietly expresses our inability to support their bad decision. But no matter how many bad choices, we still love and support the individual and find every opportunity to encourage them in the areas where they are making good choices. We sure don’t have to go to the ends of the earth to serve with insightful love. Every day presents new opportunities right at home.
“So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:8 (Message)
Biographies of Real Heroes
Read one or more of these stimulating biographies and pass it on to a teen.
The Road to Dawn: Josiah Henson and the Story that Sparked the Civil War– Jared Brock
Biography of the man who inspired Margaret Beecher Stowe’s, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” Buy here. Read Uncle Tom’s Cabin, too!
The Hiding Place– Corrie ten Boom A courageous woman in the Anti-Nazi underground Buy here. This book has influenced my life deeply since reading it years ago.
Something Beautiful for God: Mother Teresa of Calcutta– Malcolm Muggeridge Buy here
Through Gates of Splendor– Elizabeth Elliot The story of five martyrs in Ecuador written by one of their widows. Buy here. One of the influences in my choice to serve overseas.
Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Campaign to End Slavery– Eric Metaxas Buy here. Enjoyed the movie which was based on this book.
7 Women and the Secret of their Greatness– Eric Metaxas Short bios of Joan of Arc, Susanna Westley, Hannah More, Maria Skobtsova, Corrie ten Boom, Mother Teresa, Rosa Parks. Buy here.
7 Men and the Secret of the Their Greatness– Eric Metaxas Short bios of George Washington, Jackie Robinson, Eric Liddell, John Paul II,Dietrich Bonhoeffer, William Wilberforce. Buy here
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy– Eric Metaxas Buy here. I was moved by this book. Human, yet faithful.
Check out this online store with 440 biographies of real life heroes!
Black and white photo of tribesmen courtesy of Australian Broadcasting Co.