What Charlie taught about young men
Get your act together, make self-control a priority, and go start something.
“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
1 Timothy 4:12 (KJV)
“I will say to young men, get your act together and really make self-control and self-discipline a priority in your life.”
Charlie's message to young men was short and unsparing, and it came from someone who clearly wanted them to win. His first instruction: get your act together. Make self-control and self-discipline a priority in your life.
He did not frame it as punishment. He framed it as the starting line. A young man who can govern himself has something to offer. A young man who cannot is at the mercy of every impulse and every distraction.
“You should try to become a better person. That's the most important thing. Number two thing, we need more young people to start new things. We need more young people to start new churches, to start new businesses, to start new families.”
“Read the word every single day and come up with clear rules for your life of things that you will not do, things you will not watch, ways that you will not engage.”
He gave them two charges. The first was to try to become a better person, which he called the most important thing. The second was to build. He wanted more young people starting new churches, new businesses and new families. Becoming a man, in his telling, is not only about avoiding what is wrong. It is about making something that was not there before.
When a young electrician asked him how to live out his faith, he gave plain, practical rules. Read the word every single day. Come up with clear rules for your life: things you will not do, things you will not watch, ways you will not engage. Decide it ahead of time, in a calm moment, so that you are not deciding it in a weak one.
Paul wrote Timothy that no one should despise his youth, and told him to be an example in word, in faith and in purity. That is the standard Charlie held up: not a perfect man, but a disciplined one, faithful in small things, building something good.
Living it today
Write down two or three personal rules: one thing you will not do, one thing you will not watch, one thing you will do every day. Put it where you will see it tomorrow morning, and start with the Word.
A prayer
Lord, make me a man of self-control and character. Help me govern myself before I try to lead anyone else. Give me the courage to build something good, and let my life be an example in word, in faith and in purity. Amen.