Troop 757 Portal

During the Outback Bowl, I heard Lou Holtz discussing what it takes to be successful on his ESPN segment entitled Dr. Lou. I don’t always agree with Coach Holtz's football prognostications but he was once a very good football coach and he is still a very good inspirational speaker. When he was a football coach, Lou took great pride in teaching young men to be great athletes, citizens, and gentlemen. In his Ask Dr. Lou segment, he identified three keys to success in life. Some of these will be very familiar to Scouts.

1. “Always do the right thing. Know what right looks like and always do the right thing. Sometimes, determining what is right may be difficult but in the Boys Scouts, we use the Scout Oath, Law, Outdoor Code, Motto, and Slogan to guide us down the right path of life. As Christians, we also have the Holy Bible and the examples set by Jesus Christ to guide us in determining what is “right.”

2. Always do your best. Good is not Good enough. Do the very best you can at EVERYTHING you do. Dr. Lou reminded us that anything in life that is worth doing is worth 100% of your effort. You should always work hard at everything you do and never shy away from something because you think it might be difficult. Hard work will always pay off in the long run. God has a lot to say about hard work but my favorite verse is from Colossians 3:23. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” You’ve probably seen this verse on Tim Tebow’s eye black before football games. I also saw this on the side of one of our Scout’s Cervini Mustang. These definitely words to live by.

3. Treat others as you would like to be treated. This is also known as the “Golden Rule” and it is quoted by Jesus in Mathew 22:39. Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone practiced this in everything aspect of their life. Our jails would be empty and we would have a world without wars, poverty, and hunger. As Scouts we pledge to be “Trustworthy, Loyal Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent.” Almost all of these deal with how we should act when we interact with other people.

Dr. Lou has made some excellent points here. However, Jesus added something to this. In Mathew 22:34-40 the Bible tells us the following;
Jesus was asked, Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
The “Golden Rule” comes from these verses but also incorporates the first and most important commandment which is 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
If you will discipline yourself to follow these 4 basic principles, you will be successful in life.
Try it.. it works.