Get the appJosh McDowell's Youth DevotionsSample
THE MORAL LABORATORY.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a classic story written by Robert Louis Stevenson. It tells the story of an odd scientist, Dr. Jekyll, who conducted strange, secret experiments in his house. These experiments produced great concern, even fear, among Dr. Jekyll's neighbors and friends and even threatened the doctor's own life. As a result of the research he conducted in his laboratory, Jekyll a well respected doctor was enabled to transform himself into a man totally unlike himself: snarling, skulking, sinister.
It may surprise you to learn that you can do the same in a laboratory of your own. No, you don't call 1-800-B-A-GHOUL. You can't buy your own home laboratory on any infomercial. You don't need to; your home is already a laboratory. It's a moral laboratory, in which you can learn to make right choices and develop strong moral character or in which you can learn to make wrong choices and deaden your conscience.
In fact, your home and family is a virtual hothouse for growing strong moral convictions, like a greenhouse grows carnations.
When your parents are having a tough day, what better opportunity is there to practice doing good to others? When your sister screams at you for walking in front of the TV, what better environment is there to practice patience? When your brother feeds the last piece of your birthday cake to the dog, what better chance will you have to practice mercy?
The problem is, of course, that most of us tend to think that our own homes are the last places on earth where we need to be respectful and patient and merciful we save all that good stuff for our friends. But home is the laboratory where we should be learning to make right choices and do the right thing. If we can start getting it right in our own families, we'll be a lot more likely to make the right choice when we're out in the world when we have to face an impossible teacher, a girlfriend or boyfriend who wants to get physical, or a friend who's trying to tempt us to do wrong.
They say that "practice makes perfect." And the perfect place to practice doing right being patient, being respectful, being loving, being merciful is at home.
REFLECT: Are you most like the good Dr. Jekyll or the sinister Mr. Hyde when you're home? When you're away from home? Think of one way you can put your religion into practice in your family this week. Make plans to practice that behavior each day this week.
PRAY: "Father, it's hard to do the right thing at home when...
Help me as I practice right behavior this week."
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a classic story written by Robert Louis Stevenson. It tells the story of an odd scientist, Dr. Jekyll, who conducted strange, secret experiments in his house. These experiments produced great concern, even fear, among Dr. Jekyll's neighbors and friends and even threatened the doctor's own life. As a result of the research he conducted in his laboratory, Jekyll a well respected doctor was enabled to transform himself into a man totally unlike himself: snarling, skulking, sinister.
It may surprise you to learn that you can do the same in a laboratory of your own. No, you don't call 1-800-B-A-GHOUL. You can't buy your own home laboratory on any infomercial. You don't need to; your home is already a laboratory. It's a moral laboratory, in which you can learn to make right choices and develop strong moral character or in which you can learn to make wrong choices and deaden your conscience.
In fact, your home and family is a virtual hothouse for growing strong moral convictions, like a greenhouse grows carnations.
When your parents are having a tough day, what better opportunity is there to practice doing good to others? When your sister screams at you for walking in front of the TV, what better environment is there to practice patience? When your brother feeds the last piece of your birthday cake to the dog, what better chance will you have to practice mercy?
The problem is, of course, that most of us tend to think that our own homes are the last places on earth where we need to be respectful and patient and merciful we save all that good stuff for our friends. But home is the laboratory where we should be learning to make right choices and do the right thing. If we can start getting it right in our own families, we'll be a lot more likely to make the right choice when we're out in the world when we have to face an impossible teacher, a girlfriend or boyfriend who wants to get physical, or a friend who's trying to tempt us to do wrong.
They say that "practice makes perfect." And the perfect place to practice doing right being patient, being respectful, being loving, being merciful is at home.
REFLECT: Are you most like the good Dr. Jekyll or the sinister Mr. Hyde when you're home? When you're away from home? Think of one way you can put your religion into practice in your family this week. Make plans to practice that behavior each day this week.
PRAY: "Father, it's hard to do the right thing at home when...
Help me as I practice right behavior this week."
Scripture
About this Plan
Written for teenagers to use in their daily quiet time readings, this plan will make them laugh or cry. Some are fiction, some are stranger than fiction, but each will help you discover how to make right choices in the everyday ups and downs of life. Josh McDowell's Youth Devotions is a daily adventure in making right choices.
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© 2011 Josh McDowell Ministry. All rights reserved. No part of these Materials may be changed in any way or reproduced in any form without written permission from Josh McDowell Ministry, 2001 W Plano Pkwy, Ste. 2400, Plano, TX 75075. www.josh.org. +1 972 907 1000. Used by Permission.
