"A FATHER'S FORMULA FOR SUCCESS!"

Written and preached by David P. Nolte

PHILIPPIANS 2:1-4

1. HE TAUGHT THEM TO LIVE BY PRINCIPLES AND IDEALS: 2-4:
1. Principles and ideals. That means a set of moral, ethical, behavioral guidelines by which to live our lives. That means living by a sense of right and wrong, rather than by expediency or profit or pleasure or convenience.
2. To be guided by selfish interests, to be motivated by selfish gain, to be governed by selfish indulgences is to live an unprincipled life. To live an unprincipled life is to become
1. Degraded and immoral.
2. Perverted and shameful.
3. Unlawful and unethical.
4. Dishonest and deceitful.
5. Selfish and grasping.
6. Unrestrained and undisciplined.
7. Unjust and unloving.
3. In stark contrast to that, Dr. Mayo wanted his sons to live principled lives. What were some of the principles and ideals he taught his boys? These are still honorable, desirable and admirable qualities for each of us to cultivate and by which to live.
1. Absolute truthfulness. That covers a wide spectrum: keep your word. Tell the truth. Avoid exaggerations. Eschew half-truths and misleading innuendoes. Cast off pretense and hypocrisy. Be ingenuous and transparent. Refuse to cheat even if you can get away with it. Stick to absolute truthfulness.
2. Kindness and mercy even to the poorest. Some are kind to those from whom they desire some benefit. Some are kind to those they think deserve kindness. The right way is kindness to all who come into our lives. That kindness may be to chasten them to help them straighten out their mess; it may be to encourage them when they are down; it may be to include them in our circle; it may be to provide for them what they are unable to provide for themselves. But it is a color blind, culture indifferent, class forgetful kindness and mercy.
3. Use of abilities and resources for the good of others. God didn't give any of us a gift or talent or ability for purely selfish enjoyment or benefit. Peter wrote, "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." 1 Peter 4:10 (NIV).
4. Let me add:
1. a person of principle will not compromise convictions or cut corners even to advance his position.
2. A person of principle will not undermine others for personal gain.
3. A person of principle will do right even when wrong is easier and more profitable.
4. A person of principle will do right even if he is the only one doing it.
4. Lacking principle cost one young man a promotion and even a career. In the cafeteria of his workplace, he slipped a butter patty under his plate to save the nickle the patty cost. He didn't know that his boss was watching him and saw his malfeasance. But the boss did see, and saw the dishonesty, the selfishness and the lack of principle it manifested. The young man gained a patty of butter and in that one act, lost a career.

The principles Dr. Mayo taught his sons is entirely consistent with the principles that ought to govern every Christian. Do they govern you? Dr. Mayo taught something else.

2. HE TAUGHT THEM TO BE GIVERS INSTEAD OF GRABBERS: 3, 4:
1. When you stop to think about it, there are only givers and takers in the world. There are contributors and consumers. Someone said, "Everybody has a hand out - some to give, some to grab." Dr. Mayo taught his sons to give.
2. Here's what the Bible says about grabbing and giving:
1. "Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need." Ephesians 4:28 (NASB).
2. "Give generously, for your gifts will return to you later. Divide your gifts among many, for you do not know what risks might lie ahead." Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 (NLT).
3. "Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor." Proverbs 22:9 (NLT).
4. "The smooth tricks of evil people will be exposed, including all the lies they use to oppress the poor in the courts. But good people will be generous to others and will be blessed for all they do." Isaiah 32:7-8 (NLT).
5. "If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving - large or small - it will be used to measure what is given back to you." Luke 6:38 (NLT).
3. Many are like
1. The Dead Sea; fed by the Jordan, Arnon and Kidron Rivers. It takes in and takes in and takes in, but there is no outlet, so the Dead Sea is salty and dead. So is every life that grabs but doesn't give.
2. The two sons of Abe Lincoln: they were crying and fussing because Abe had three nuts and each of the boys wanted two. So it is with everyone who is more concerned with grabbing than giving.
4. Rather, let us live like the old man who lived frugally, and who used his money to buy shoes and food for the poor in his neighborhood. Someone urged him to stop it because he had needs of his own. In response, he said, "My friend, God will take care of me. But I can't let these little ones go hungry, can I?"

Dr. Mayo taught his boys to give not to grab. That is a good guideline for life for every Christian. Is it your guideline? There is still another thing Dr. Mayo taught his sons.

3. HE TAUGHT THEM THAT NO ONE IS TOO BIG TO NEED OTHERS: 2, 4:
1. Some people are so self-oriented that they are a world unto themselves. They are like an island, unconnected, isolated, cut off. And often by their own choices and actions. They are exclusive, unapproachable, and unhealthily independent.
2. Howard Butt wrote in The Art Of Being A Big Shot, "It is my pride that makes me independent of God. It's appealing to me to feel that I am the master of my fate, that I run my own life, call my own shots, go it alone. But that feeling is my basic dishonesty. I can't go it alone. I have to get help from other people, and I can't ultimately rely on myself. I'm dependent on God for my next breath. It is dishonest of me to pretend that I'm anything but a man small, weak, and limited."
3. No Christian is independent of God and no Christian can be independent of others and when we try to be, we are not the only ones to suffer: because of a hyper-independent attitude, the "I don't need anybody" mind-set, many are left out in the cold like this young lady, isolated, cut off and forgotten. Let's watch this clip: Video Clip on friends.
1. We are a body, and each part needs the others.
2. We are a family and each member depends on the others.
3. We are an army and each soldier counts on another.
4. In a certain retirement center lived two women. Both had lost an arm, and both were pianists. They found it difficult to play with only one arm. The retirement center scheduled a concert to be performed by the residents so these two women decided to work together on a complex piece of music. They sat beside one another on the piano bench and together played a beautiful arrangement neither could have accomplished alone. No one is too big to need others.

Dr. Mayo taught his sons that. He taught them to live by principle and ideals. He taught them to be givers and not grabbers. He taught them that no one is too big to need others. In teaching them these lessons, he taught them a formula for success that works. It works because it is the same formula Jesus sets before us: live by principle, not by expediency. Live to give not to grab. Live in harmony, co-operation and healthy dependence upon others. And concerning that last concept, nobody is too big, or too good, or self-sufficient to need Jesus. He calls us to a life of principle and ideals; He calls us to a life of unselfishness; He calls us to a life that is dependent on Him for grace, mercy, strength, forgiveness and hope. To obtain that kind of life demands a surrender of your very self to Him and your will to His. He will then work in and through you to enable you to live a life based on His formula for success: belief, trust, obedience: simply put, a life of faith.

Stories from Knight books of illustrations