AS SCHOOL GETS BACK INTO SWING…
so does cheating on more levels, much more.
As for those who lie, steal, cheat and now are going back to school, back to college…
you type of people will only truly succeed with honesty. Repentance is mandatory. Every ungodly man, woman, teenager is not fighting the good fight will fail, are failures. And because of this you do not/cannot have peace with God, nor yourselves. Your relationships will be as phony as the A’s you receive under false pretenses.
Not hardly can there be rejoicing; for truly be settled that you deserve and have worked for the grades. The admiration you have from others is unreal just as the smiles you wear as you accept the unwarranted accolades.
Along with cheating on tests and every day assignments comes rudeness, roughness and the rat chase.
So I challenge you: earn the praise, the grade and the accolades!
One sin I never committed (I am so thankful to declare) is that I never once cheated in school, never once didn’t earn my grades: and I never liked cheaters; never liked liars, phonies.
As I look back to my school days, I have a particular memory of my own from junior high school which has always stuck with me. I believe it was in seventh grade. My homeroom teacher was a very nice, kind young man. Remember at this time I was painfully shy and believe you me, I know exactly how that felt: I felt insignificant, boring, unimportant and unattractive. These were, no doubt, lies of the devil and his people. Because I was so horribly withdrawn, you would think I had no backbone, no fight in me, and no moral compass. Yet God was always there wanting to be my Counselor, my best Friend; I just wasn’t listening… I chose not to.
Selah.
There came a certain day in my homeroom class that I will never forget. It was a great teaching lesson that never came from any person, but from God, who is now my first love. I was agonizingly quiet; thinking back, I do believe some people thought I was stuck-up because, truly, I was not ugly. (I just needed braces and I never had a lot of clothes. Remember: my parents were ungodly.)
The bell rang at the end of homeroom. Time to get the real school day started. The teacher, this man I liked and admired was not in the room. Guess what happened? Not hard to. Immediately the rowdies started jumping out of their seats loudly, very loudly; pushing desks hard and fast, talking too loud. Being simply ridiculous jerks! I didn’t like it; but other than that, it didn’t affect me
UNTIL
our teacher scolded us
AND
assigned us all to write a paper.
Now I was mad!
And I wrote it out! I told this teacher he was unfair. I had nothing to do with this disrespectful behavior and I should not have to write this paper! I told him who the people were who acted out and stated only they should be punished!
Friends, I learned such a great lesson on dignity and responsibility. This teacher whom I still liked was wrong and I let him know it! Come to think of it, he never talked to me about it and never apologized to any of us kids who were not being brats. That was wrong. I enjoyed telling him I was innocent and did not deserve to be punished just because he didn’t know…
My favorite part was when one of the big guys (I still remember his full name) snide fully asked me: “Why did you tell him who it was?!” I was totally unafraid of this jerk and replied: “Because, I didn’t do it and I shouldn’t have had to write a paper because of you guys!” Guess what? Again, you probably know. He didn’t say a word!
Sweet!
I learned several lessons that day and I’ve never forgotten the incident nor my reaction to it and those victories that have always, always stayed with me.
I learned that day (if not before) that teachers, adults, can be stupid and unfair and take the easy way out rather than taking time to get to the truth. Why? Because sometimes people just don’t care to get to the bottom of the matter. They deliberately choose not to dig, get to the bottom, and reveal only the true monsters.
I learned – and this is great – that even when I was shy and felt unworthy of most things, I do speak up when I’m really justifiably mad! This was awesome for me, a teenager being raised by an ungodly mother, having a father who was more like a mentally/physically handicapped brother, to take charge of a wrong and point it out. We all should do that!
I learned that I cared about fairness and it’s not always there with adults. I learned that I have rights and I need to stand up for them! I loved also learning that I don’t care what people think when I am right!!
No one, but no one, but Jesus, is right all the time. Only Christ Jesus is always wanting the best for all people. And I love this:
1 Corinthians 11:1
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
As a shy and inferior-feeling teenager and sinner I didn’t follow those rowdies. As a child of the Most High, I now follow Christ and I still refuse to back down when I know I am right.
Go and do the same!
Growing up in a home without the love for God, an invalid father, heavy financial hardships, and tremendous (sometimes dangerous) discord is always difficult. Add on to that extreme shyness, a feeling of inferiority, and some may think this girl was rejected. But God’s hand was on her and His heart was for her. Today, Ann Marie Turner has performed many great services in Jesus’ name for the love of God and man; and for herself! She has ministered in the male correctional for over ten years. Along with this website, Ann is the author of Joy Stories, Volume One and The Free Incarcerated Man. Writing about the joy of the Lord and the victory that is available for a willing soul is one of Ann’s now greatest joys! Ann’s prayer for you is to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony. Celebrate the God of the Bible and your personal victories in Christ unceasingly! Revelation 12:11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.