Here is the front cover of our new publication. CHOOSE TO BE DIFFERENT. Read and be transformed

KNOWN FOR WHAT?

A woman travelled outside Nigeria for a short holiday, but still went out of her way to get some gifts for her extended family with the house-helps not left out of the largesse. According to her, she learnt this from one of her aunts whom whenever she travelled abroad would always bring gifts for them when they were young. The gifts may be small but it would be durable and it would always go round. That was one of the things her aunt was known for.

On the other hand, there was this young lady that I met some time ago who shared a bit of her past with me. According to her, there was this ‘big aunty’ who lived in her neighbourhood who introduced her to wild life. She said regrettably that in her hay days, this big aunty would take her out to parties, clubs and of course introduce her to men. 

Before long, she became pregnant for one of the men who later took to his heels and left her with the responsibility of nursing the child. While recounting her wayward lifestyle which she felt was enjoyment then, the role the big aunty played came vividly into the big picture of her past. Unfortunately, the big aunty was not around to help. Her situation became pathetic because she did know where exactly her life was heading to, but God came to her rescue when she came to the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What are we known for? A rebel or conformist; a lover of peace or troublemaker; a model or atypical! What are we actually living for? Do we rejoice in evil or we are always out to do good and make sure that others who are down or lowly are lifted because of the wonderful roles we played in their lives.

In the real sense of it, are we known for virtue or vice? For instance, some people are known to always give gifts that are not good to others. Someone told me of a woman who specializes in giving stale bread, expired milk etc to people who come to her home on a visit or for one thing or the other. She is so good at this that people attested to it. Of what use is a gift that has no use!

For some of us, our second name is arrogance. Nobody can satisfy us as we see ourselves as the best and others as ignoramus. So much pride is in us that we never appreciate others and the sterling qualities that make them unique. We are too high to reckon with the lowly in our classes, campuses, organizations, families and communities. 

For some of us, the words of our mouths betray us. By the time we make just two sentences, our speech betray us as pride is lined up in the sentences. Apart from pride, some of us pull down others easily by what we say. What a fruitless life! That life is fruitless because God resist the proud but gives grace to the humble.

What of some of us who are gossips. No information flies around without our knowledge; in actual fact, some of us play God as we want others to know that we had the news about a person, event etc before anyone else. We call these people, information without wire. It is bad that many people have associated some of us with this vice; it is even worse that some of us take pride in this depravity. The book of proverbs says, the talk of the lips tend to penury. You know what? A gossip will not be paid a dime for his/her gossip business; the least level of appreciation open to that fellow is thank you from an ungrateful heart!

What are you known for? This is a pertinent question we must ask ourselves. Of what use is a life that cannot influence others positively. Of what use is a life that is associated with laziness alone without any remorse from the culprit.

Young people should be known for their zeal which cannot be traded for anything because that is their season of strength. Apostle John said, I write to you young men because you are strong. Let us arise as builders and channel our strength towards upbeat tasks.   

Enough of playing into the gallery; our virtues will bring more people to our savior and transform many from bad to good. Let us be known as young leaders who brought light into a dark world.

 

Talk is cheap!

I do not really like wrestling as a sport because I feel the pain that goes into the sport is more than the reward. That’s on a personal note anyway. However, I find a lot of fun in listening to the contestants in a wrestling competition when they are promoting each other before the actual contest.

One of the wrestlers would show so much muscle to frighten his opponent and make so much noise with his mouth about how he would defeat his opponent when they get into the ring. The opponent too comes up and he opens his mouth to talk so much about himself and how he would defeat his opponent few minutes into the game. So who will be the winner with all the accolades each wrestler has showered on himself. Most of the time, the wrestler who makes the loudest noise is often the loser! 

Again, another good example of cheap talk is those who do not know how to drive at all but makes so much noise while they drive in thin air. Most of the time, when you are driving and they sit in the car with you, they will begin to control you as to how to manoeuvre the steering; sometimes it can be annoying for the driver especially when there is a traffic jam. Now, tell those people to take over the wheels and you will realize that they will recluse immediately. 

Talk is indeed cheap! However, to be a dynamic young person goes beyond cheap talk. It is a time to roll up one’s sleeve and make sure that a round peg finds its way into a round hole. It is not enough to go round in circles all through the year without anything tangible to point at, yet one’s mouth is always explaining how things can be done.

Are you in a place where things are not done in the proper way? Instead of sitting down to talk down about your leader or another fellow, why don’t you show the way to get that thing done? That was what David did. He saw that army generals and all their lieutenants were eaten up by fear and totally confused. Instead of castigating them with his mouth and joining in their helpless state, he asked a few questions and faced the enemy. Of course, the enemy who had made so much noise was defeated with just stones by David who relied on His God.

We need young people who can take the bull by the horn. We are not looking for those who only want to show muscles and rattle away. We need those who are ready for action.

Considering the number of youths we have in this nation, one wonders what is really happening to them and their impact upon our nation. Remember that the holy book says, the glory of young men is their strength, where is the mental strength, physical strength, innovations, inventions put in place by our young minds.

We do not want to read articles of what a young person can do alone; we want to see exploit in our nation. It is time to arise and put in place conscious efforts that will build our nation. We want more young people to make waves in different spheres. What is the use of a life without an impact? Let us achieve a feat. Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 4:20 said, ‘For the kingdom of God consists of and is based on not talk but power (moral power and excellence of soul). (AMP.) Sometimes, I have this feeling that we talk too much and we do not see enough evidence of our talk. The above quotation told us that the kingdom business is not about talk alone but manifestation of power and excellence.

How often do we manifest the power of God in our lives? This is because it is when the power is in you that it can be transferred to others around you. Some of us cannot even heal headache not to talk of laying our hands on another person who is sick.

Again when we talk of excellence how often do we see this in our lives as young people? It is an irony that we who ought to shine as lights seem to be lost in the multitude. Check some of our phones; even though we say it with the word of mouth that we are Christians, our ring tones and caller tunes are saying different things entirely.

Where is the excellence in our academics, career, social life, etc. where is the power of distinction in our lives. Get up and do something and talk less. Remember that Prov 14:23, says, in all labour there is profit but the talk of the lips tend to penury.

DON’T BE IN THE DARK

Is it not ignorance that makes a young guy/lady to dance to the lyrics of a song that he/she does not know? Unfortunately, most of us are simply carried away by the rhythm of a song, not bothering on what the lyrics say? Can you imagine a young lady dancing to a song that portrays lust by asking the lady to shake her waist and the one that encourages the guy to enjoy red alcoholic wine because it is good for him! How much good will one bottle of alcoholic wine do to a young man? Simple, it will ruin him!

Many of us love to dance to most music because of the rhythm. Just ask some of us to sing the song for you and you will be surprised as some will probably sing a line and hum the remaining yet we dance in ecstasy to the rhythm which had been well put together at the studio. 

Ignorance is deadly. It can destroy the lives of either the young or old. Do you know that many don’t only admire those who have tattoo on their bodies some desire same? Recently, I discovered that in ancient China, tattoo was associated with criminals and bandits. Tattooing Chinese characters such as "Prisoner" (囚) on convicted criminals' or slaves' faces was practiced then. Nowadays, tattoo has become normal because we have some of our so called stars with different tattoos on their body and we, the young ones feel we should do the same not considering its origin.

Also, most of us languish in the dark when we want pleasure at the expense of labour. A fellow who refuses to sow his/her seed when others are doing so but decides to join the club of harvesters when it is time for harvest is in the dark. This is because you can only reap what you sow in life. Hard work is becoming increasingly difficult for us young people. We want to live in good houses and ride big cars without working for them. As a result, we find solace in some groups that promise us that we could be rich without doing any work or we could be powerful just by being in their club.

Being a member of a cult on campus is to belong to the club of the ignoramus. Yes. This is because cult members don’t impact their immediate community; rather they come together as a gang to fight for leadership positions that does not produce any good effect in their environment. It is ignorance that makes young people to thirst for evil power just because they want to occupy certain positions and oppress people in the society.

Believe you me, you are in the dark, if as a young man, your so called friend is able to influence or prevail over you to drink just one cup of beer or ‘strong drink’ because, according to them, only mummy’s sons drink soft drinks. We said you are in the dark because your friend knows wine is a mocker and strong drink is for those who want to perish. So, if you allow yourself to be deceived it shows that you are not learned at all.

How do you explain the case of a young smart guy who followed his friend to the supermarket only to steal all in the name of being smart? These young chaps picked receipts that were not torn and replicated what was on it and felt happy because they believed they were able to outsmart those at the security post in the supermarket. Well, you may be able to cart away the products for the mean time but sincerely, except you repent you will pay back in ways that you will not be able to explain.

Cheating on others does not portend that you are smart; it only shows you are in the dark concerning God’s word and the law of sowing and reaping. I once read the story of a guy who killed a teenager over 17 years ago. After many years, he began to have nightmares and he would always see the mum of the young teenager he murdered. When he could not handle things again and nobody seems to be able to proffer any solution to his problem, he went to the Police Station and gave himself up. 

It actually took a while but he suffered for it in the process and now he is facing the wrath of the law. Will you kill, steal, cheat, live a lazy life and do contrary to what you ought to do because of where you are? If yes, you are still living in the dark and you are sincerely ignorant of whom you are.

You are God’s make up and so, nobody should push you around or turn you to an object of destruction. Always know what is right and stick to it. If the multitude decides to do the wrong thing you can always be different by making up your mind to do the right thing. Don’t live in the dark. Know the lyrics of that song before you begin to sway and don’t let anyone deceive you that it is real men that drink beer! On the contrary, it is weak men that drink beer because they cannot stand to face people and challenges until they have a stimulant!

Published in the June edition of Redemption Light Magazine, the official publication of the Redeemed Christian Church of God

In fear, I returned the wedding gown (My encounter with the Holy Spirit)

I had the privilege of doing my wedding shopping in the U.S courtesy of my adorable parents. I went to one of the most expensive shops in New York. I tried on up to five beautiful wedding gowns before making my final choice.

I settled for a tube-like gown that had a small jacket on it. In excitement, I returned to my Aunt’s house clutching my wedding gown on my chest.

That night in my sleep, I had a dream. A man in a silk robe sat in front of me and began to chat me up. The conversation went thus:

Stranger: Why did you choose that wedding gown?

Me: It was the one that fitted me best.

Stranger: Do you know that half of your breast was revealed when you wore it?

Me: But there is a jacket to cover the exposed part of my breast.

Stranger: When you get to the reception, will you not remove the jacket?

Me: removing the jacket at the reception is the fun of the gown.

Stranger: With your breast out for public consumption?

Me: But we would have left church.

Stranger: At the reception, will there not be unbelievers there who will blaspheme my name? Those who will say “see what she is wearing, and she calls herself a Christian.”

Me: People don’t think like that anymore. More so, it is this tube-like gowns that are reigning now.

Stranger: You seem to be adamant on wearing the tube… what if I ask you to return it and pick a decent one that covers the upper part of your body?

Me: But I like this one. I’m not sure I want to return it.

Stranger: You are my precious daughter and I know you would not like to hurt me just as I would not like to hurt you.

Me: Who are you please?

Stranger: I am the Holy Spirit, and your body is my temple. Keep my temple holy and I will keep your marriage holy. I will also keep your body holy. If you insist on wearing it, can you cope with breast cancer?

Me: Breast Cancer?

I woke up sweating. By mid-day, I returned the gown to pick one that would not expose my breast.

There in that shop, I met the daughter of a very popular king in Nigeria. We got talking and I saw that she did not even go to the section of tube styles. When I asked her why she did not try the tube style, she said “my father (the king) will never allow it”. He says “Royalty does not dress indecently.”

I learnt an eternal lesson that day, firstly, from the Holy Spirit and secondly, from the earthly royal princess.

“ROYALTY DOES NOT DRESS INDECENTLY.”

“If you keep dressing with your breast exposed, can you stand a breast cancer later in life?”

By Salvation girls