Forever Young: Ten Gifts of Faith for the Graduate - Hardcover

YouÆve made it through school, youÆve graduated, and you probably have the next goal in mind. But there are a few things you may not have thought about:

Bill Selby of the St. Louis Cardinals says that the amazing thing about being a Christian and growing closer to the Lord is that the more we mature as Christians, the more we see how far away we are.

ôI know God is shaping every inch of my life,ö Selby has said. ôHeÆs allowing me to see where I stand with Him and how thankful I am that HeÆs selected me to be His child.ö

Likewise, most people donÆt think about their dream job as anything other than a job or a career. Not NFL quarterback Kurt Warner. He sees his job as a platform.

ôGod has given me an unbelievable platform that reaches an enormous amount of people,ö he says.

Warner understands that part of his platform is the pain that has come to his family. His son was injured at a young age and has some physical and mental disabilities. His wife lost her parents in a tornado, and at one point Warner worked as a stock boy at a grocery store.

ôWeÆve had difficult timesùour son, my wifeÆs parents, us financiallyùand then we had success,ö Warner said. ôWe can touch an unbelievable amount of people and speak to them on a lot of different levels because of that. ThatÆs the way I like to look at all weÆve been through.ö

Cowboy Up
The Lord wants you to give everything up to him: your career, your energy, your talents. Along the way, there will be stumbles and falls, trip-ups and temptations. They will be fewer if you determine to give your life to Christ and avoid compromising situations.

So many people have lost everything because of an illicit affair, an illegal business deal, or a life riddled with drugs and alcohol. Those people look older than their years, worn and weathered, with worry lines across their foreheads and around their eyes.

A life lived for self and pleasure, a life of careless sin, is a life that ages people quickly. Living life for Christ will ease the lines in your face and make you youthful in every sense.

When IÆm on the road, I like to stay in my room and order room service. Sometimes I hang out with other Christian guys. I never go out to go out. I donÆt enjoy it. I love my wife and I take my marriage very personally and to heart. Whenever you commit to those vows, theyÆre for life.

Tom Landry, longtime coach of the Dallas Cowboys, was known for his strong Christian faith. Landry said, ôFaith gives a man hope, and hope is what life is all about. ThatÆs why won-lost records, championships and all that has gone on in the past, really have so little meaning for me. All that is nice, of course. But itÆs not what matters most....I live my life for Christ in every area, and I work hard because God expects us to be the best we can.ö

Take the advice of a Cowboy.

Privacy Schmivacy
On one occasion, Senator Robert Pittenger and my friend Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade, met with former Texas governor and presidential candidate John Connally. After a long discussion on world affairs, Bill asked the governor if he knew Jesus. The governor, a confident man, pulled himself up an inch or so and said, ôDr. Bright, I donÆt believe in wearing my religion on my sleeve. ItÆs a personal thing.ö

Then, in a firm but sensitive tone, Bill said, ôGovernor, Jesus Christ died for you in a very public way. It wasnÆt just a private thing to Him.ö Bill then presented the governor with the Gospel, and left him material on how to know Christ.

Eight months later, the governor spoke at a major Campus Crusade event. The first words out of his mouth were, ôJesus said, æI am the light of the world. If you follow me, you will not stumble in the darkness.Æö

If you believe in Christ, tell someone else. ItÆs no fun staying young and vibrant all by yourself!

¬2005. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Forever Young: Ten Gifts of Faith for the Graduate Pat Williams and Karen Kingsbury. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher. Publisher: Health Communications, Inc., 3201 SW 15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442.