Teach Your CHILDREN
A vital point here is to teach your children to read widely and to THINK. Encourage your young children and grandchildren to use the dictionary often — to become familiar with the basic meaning of thousands of key words in our language. For words provide the very tools by which we think and reason. Teach them also to become familiar with the good encyclopedias — to begin early building a real STOREHOUSE of knowledge on basic subjects.
Both you and your children are to be encouraged to read biographies and autobiographies of the great men of the past and of recent times as well. Read The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Read some of the better volumes of Sir Winston Churchill — "the man of the century." This type of reading should inspire one to a life of accomplishment and leadership.
If at all possible, have your children or grandchildren read this very article! For they should be the LEADERS in The World Tomorrow. They must, therefore, obtain the best possible education today! Teach them to STUDY the Word of God, the Laws of God and the perfect example of Jesus Christ! Teach them that all real knowledge or TRUTH" is based on — and in harmony with — this revelation of basic knowledge from the Creator.
Thousands of "educated fools" are abroad in the world today — utterly CONFUSED about who they are, where they came from, what are the Laws of life, what is the MEANING of world conditions, and WHERE WE ARE HEADED. Yet the true answer to these questions is the MOST IMPORTANT knowledge of all!
This, in fact, is one of the purposes for the establishment of the three Ambassador Colleges now in operation. For so much misknowledge is being disseminated today that one must constantly exercise his alertness and discernment to be sure of the "facts" being presented to him in class or in a text-book.
Acquire your education with a high PURPOSE in mind! Acquire it in order to glorify your Creator, and to qualify to join His Son in RULING, in TEACHING, in REBUILDING this world and enforcing PEACE in The World Tomorrow. In this way, you will join the Ambassador College students in acquiring a great deal of tomorrow's education TODAY!
III. Understanding, Vision and BIG mindedness
In his autobiography, Mr. Armstrong has stated that he had a burning desire for "understanding" beginning at about age sixteen.
What is "understanding"?
It is different from knowledge. For knowledge connotes merely the possession of facts and information. And wisdom is the ability to draw on those facts and with understanding make a right decision in a given situation.
But understanding is the grasp not only of information and facts, but of their relationship to each other and their MEANING. It is the awareness of the basic laws and principles governing personal, national and spiritual situations that come up. It usually involves much study, thought and EXPERIENCE. It enables one to see the BIG PICTURE in a given situation.
Take the example of Sir Winston Churchill, called "the man of the century." It is widely recognized that his greatness was made possible by the unusual understanding and vision he possessed, at least in material things. He became the Prime Minister of Britain at the beginning of World War II. He felt relief to be able, at last, to straighten out a desperate situation his nation had fallen into and about which he had been warning it for many years.
For, over and over again, Churchill had warned his fellow Britons about the dangerous tyranny rising in Nazi Germany. He understood the meaning of Hitler's boasts and the Nazi torchlight rallies. He grasped the meaning of the historical background of the German peoples and their militaristic nature.
Like "a voice in the wilderness" he had warned the democratic leaders of his own and other friendly states what was bound to come. But they would not heed!
On becoming Prime Minister he was able to DEAL with the ugly situation. His people now were frightened at what he had known all along would come. But Churchill was able to see the BIG PICTURE. For he had a vast knowledge of history, and he understood the nature of the rise and fall of dictators. More, he deeply understood not only the military but the tremendous industrial power of Britain and America — and worked unceasingly to get America to help Britain before it was too late.
Churchill had gained early a deep understanding of his nation's army, its navy, its parliamentary system (he had been a member of Parliament since 1901) and of its people. Most important of all, he was able to see them in relation to each other and how they fit together as a WHOLE. This even included the Commonwealth nations which he came to know well through his wide study, travel and his .early military experiences.
His UNDERSTANDING of this whole picture was unique.
So it was that when Winston Churchill was given the crushing responsibility of directing his people in their hour of need, he was not the least upset or overwhelmed. He wrote: "I felt as if I were walking with Destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial."
How to Exercise VISION
Along with understanding comes VISION. This is the ability to foresee events or situations even before they happen. This comes, partly at least, from training the mind to think ahead to consider the END of a series of events or a particular course of action. I am grouping it here with understanding because these two qualities often go together, and complement each other.
As would be expected, therefore, Churchill also possessed a great deal of vision. In his autobiography, Mr. Bernard Baruch tells about a conversation with Churchill just after the First World War: "Pointing his walking stick toward the east, where the Red Revolution had erupted, he made a prophetic remark, 'Russia, Russia. That's where the weather is coming from.' " Even then, Mr. Baruch tells us, Churchill could sense the antagonistic spirit of the Soviet dictatorship toward free men. For he had vision.
Solomon wrote: "Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he" (Prov. 29:18).
The man who keeps God's Law will have vision because he will be given a penetrating insight into human nature — and the collective nature of people and nations. He will possess superior understanding of the principles of life, and will therefore sense, before others, the OUTCOME of various situations and problems.
Learn to be BIG Minded
In like manner, such a man will be given superior understanding and BIG mindedness. For God promises: "A good understanding have all they that no His COMMANDMENTS (Psa. 111: 10).
To gain greater understanding, read widely — especially in history — trying to learn the lessons behind the many adventures and misadventures of man down through the centuries. In any situation, try to see the BIG PICTURE. Relate the situation to similar ones in the lives of others you know or may have read about. Don't be so upset or involved in the immediate problem that you fail to relate it to your whole life and future. Think of its meaning in terms of the entire world and God's ultimate PURPOSE.
An amusing yet meaningful account of how Winston Churchill did this concerns his being run down by a New York taxicab in 1931. Confined to a bed of pain and kept from his work for some time, he could easily have become discouraged, or perhaps bitter against America and against all cab drivers, etc.
Instead, Churchill made front-page news by completely exonerating the driver. Then, he dashed off a lurid description of the episode for which he received $2500!
Churchill was BIG minded about what could have been thought of as a "tragedy" by a lesser man. For he possessed the understanding that this need not be a tragedy at all unless he made it so.
Use these examples in gaining understanding yourself!
Remember always the account of King Solomon's early reign over Israel — while he was still obedient to his God. For, because of Solomon's yielded spirit, God asked him to name what he would like and promised to grant it. Solomon's concern was not for vanity, but for his awesome responsibility as King over all Israel. So Solomon asked: "Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?" (I Kings 3:9)
This greatly pleased the Eternal. And so God gave Solomon a wise and UNDERSTANDING heart, and both riches and honor — for which he had not asked (verses 10-12).
In addition to reading widely — especially the lessons of history and the lives of great men — try always to see the BIG PICTURE in any given situation. Exercise version and train yourself to look to the real END or outcome of a problem or a course of action. Read and study the Bible itself to gain real understanding and acquire Gods view-point on the big questions and problems of life. Then pray earnestly to the Eternal God and ask Him for understanding — remembering in faith the example of Solomon!
IV. Wisdom and Resourcefulness
One of the most important qualities in any high official or leader of men is WISDOM. For although a President or Prime Minister cannot possibly be an expert in petroleum engineering, aircraft and missile production and nuclear physics, he must nevertheless have the wisdom to make sound decisions on all these matters and many, many more.
Solomon wrote: "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get WISDOM: and with all thy getting get understanding" (Prov. 4:7).
Wisdom, of course, is the faculty of making sound decisions. Anyone with great wisdom would necessarily need to be possessed of at least a good degree of understanding and vision. He would also have to acquire knowledge of the problem at hand — and attempt to get all of the pertinent facts.
Having the facts, and possessing understanding of the past history, trends and laws governing the type of situation he faces, the man with WISDOM must correlate all of these factors and make a sound decision that will be practical and that will actually work — both now and in the future. This is true WISDOM.
All too often, political decisions, "expedient" decisions are made in order to please the general public at the moment. Undoubtedly, those making this type of judgment realize that there will be double trouble in years to come because of their shortsighted, crowd pleasing decisions. But, perhaps at least partially blinded by the pressures of the moment, they "hope" that their biased decisions will somehow work out all right!
One of the "keys" to real wisdom is the willingness to learn from one's own mistakes. One of the wisest men of this century, Mr. Bernard Baruch, wrote of how he systematically developed this practice: "After each major undertaking — and particularly when things had turned sour — I would shake loose from Wall Street and go off to some quiet place where I could review what I had done and where I had gone wrong. At such times I never sought to excuse myself but was concerned solely with guarding against a repetition of the same error."
Be willing to LEARN from your own mistakes!
Another point of wisdom is to get all of the pertinent facts concerning any problem. Many are too lazy or too vain to do this — feeling they can "play it by ear" and somehow get by. The powers of human intuition being what they are, this will work part of the time — especially when one is on familiar ground and the decision is not of major consequence and it is not a volatile or potentially dangerous issue. But when it is, then woe be to the man who rushes around making decisions without having gotten the facts and without also getting WISE COUNSEL!
For God's Word makes plain: "Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the MULTITUDE of counselors there is safety" (Prov. 11:14). A great leader is usually one who surrounds himself with topnotch assistants and advisors of both ability and wisdom. He will not be seeking insipid "yes men," but men who themselves dig deeply into the facts, possess vision, and who will independently give truly wise counsel when an important decision is to be made.
Where does WISDOM come from?