Life Guidelines: Experience of a Father, for my Daughter

I am compiling guidelines I wish to convey to my daughter at some appropriate time in her life (she is five now). I try to live these and teach them when I can, but I want her to have a list she can reflect on when I am not around. My initial thought was to give them to her when she goes to college, but I think it will have to be much sooner than that in today's world. So here is what I have so far.

Life Guidelines: Experience of a Father, for my Daughter
by Anthony W. Arnold

Love God and follow Christ. The Bible will show you how.

LOVE!

Be happy. Ultimate happiness is found through the will of God.

Be kind. You will never regret an act of kindness.

Pray and talk to God about everything: your love, joy, sadness, pain, anger, frustration, temptation, confusion—everything. This personal relationship with the Father will save your life (read Psalms).

Virtue cultivates happiness, degradation of self breeds misery.

Crave righteousness and seek truth.

Thirst for wisdom and hunger for knowledge. Self-esteem and confidence are built in the pursuit of both.

Be passionate: in labor, in art, in music, in study, in relationships, and in love.

Cherish your salvation and your integrity. Compromise neither. The only one who can rob you of these is yourself.

Explore the world that God created before man destroys it.

You are special. Surround yourself with special people.

Recognize your weaknesses and surround yourself with those who can offset them (Proverbs 27:17).

Peer pressure is a farce. It is purely a method for others to justify their own doubtful behavior.

Do not confuse peer pressure with support or loving admonition. Know the difference, disregard the former and accept the latter.

Believe in the Holy Spirit and trust its exertions.

Every human will fail you at one time or another, but God will not. When humans do fail you, remember that God forgave them and let His Son die for them.

Holding onto grudges and anger requires your energy, not the energy of those toward whom it is directed.

Satan is real.

Satan cares not whether you believe in him or follow him. He cares only that you move one more step away from God. He has nothing to offer. He cannot give—only take.

God gave: His Son. God gives: Eternal life.

Your body is your gift to give. Give it in the ways of the Lord.

Please the Lord. If others are not happy with this, then it is their problem not yours.

You are created in the image of God. Therefore, you are beautiful!

Don’t let guilt consume you. There is no act you can do that Jesus has not already handled with His death. Nothing is too big for Him.

Do not attempt to be loved by everyone or by every action. Let your actions command respect. You can respect someone you do not love, but it is virtually impossible to love someone you do not respect.

Be kind and gentle, but firm. Be decisive and resolute in your morals.

Tolerate injustice only when it is done to you. Fight it when you see it being inflicted on others.

The only life you should value over another is the sacrifice of your own.

Forgiveness of a sin does not mean absolution from its consequences.

It is possible, despite modern opinion to the contrary, to take a moral stance with love and without being judgmental.

Force is power, but love is powerful.

Don’t agonize over not being able to change others. Sometimes it is enough just to be able to change yourself (Gipsie Ranney).

Physics, chemistry, and math are important. They describe how the universe works. God created the universe, therefore the understanding of these fields reveals a part of God.

Develop solid verbal and written communication skills. Without them, you can neither convey your point of view nor understand the point of veiw of others.

The definition of a simple life is peace of soul; contentment that is removed from circumstance. The path to it is through Christ.

Your strength is greater than you can possibly imagine. Unfortunately, you will only find this out when you think you have none left.

When you do not know what else to do, pray!

Copyright 2005 Anthony W. Arnold