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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for December 15, 2009
“If You Do It, You Approve It”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
If you do it, you approve it.
That’s a really short sentence, but it sure packs a wallop, so let me say it again.
If you do it, you approve it.
Or let me say it like this. Everything you do gives someone else permission to do it.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s good, bad or wretched. If you do it, you are clearing a path for someone behind you to come along and do it as well.
This plays out most obviously in the parent-child relationship. You’ve heard of the crusty old dad saying, “Don’t do as I do, do as I say.”
Well if Dad drinks, he is giving his children permission to drink. If Dad smokes, he is giving his children permission to smoke. If Dad leaves the family, he is giving his children permission to leave their family.
And if you say one thing and do another, well you just gave your children permission to do the same. You have approved their lack of integrity through your own lack of integrity.
If you do it, you approve it.
Here’s one way to picture it in your mind. When I was little, I remember walking behind my dad in the woods in the snow. He would create the footsteps, and I would walk in them. He would choose the path, and I would follow. He would break off branches and clear the way, making it easy for me to go that same direction. Sure, I could have created my own path, but it’s so much easier to follow a trail someone else has blazed.
Now listen to this. If Dad didn’t want me to go that way, then he shouldn’t have gone that way in the first place.
This is also easy to see in the manager/employee relationship. If the manager comes in late and leaves early, and fudges on his reports, and undermines his boss, and badmouths the company – then that is what he can expect from his employees. He has given them permission to do all those things simply by doing them himself.
It’s easy to see with pastors and parishioners. If the pastor does it, he clears the way for everyone else to do it. I remember a girl telling me about a priest who drank and cussed like a sailor. By doing so he gave all his people permission to do the same.
This is obvious with teachers and their students, and all forms of leadership. People in leadership clear extra wide paths for others, whether good or bad.
But you don’t have to be in leadership to affect people. This is true for all of us.
If you do it, you approve it.
Everything you do gives someone else permission to do the same.
If you pilfer items from work, you give permission to your coworkers.
If you cheat on a test, you give others permission to cheat.
If you deceive, you approve deceit.
If you gossip, you clear the path for others to gossip.
It’s like you make a big announcement that it’s okay. It’s almost like you are teaching others to do it.
This is important because we all do things we would never teach someone else to do. If we had to vote, we would vote that no one else should do it.
Thieves would vote that other people shouldn’t steal, especially from them. And yet their own thievery puts the stamp of approval on theft.
Romans 14:22 says, “…blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.”
That says to me, “Be careful what you approve.”
And that means, be careful what you do, because what you do, you approve.
Every action we take affects the world. Oh, our action itself might have little impact, but it clears a path for others to follow, and they certainly will. It may not be today or tomorrow, but we log things away in the back of our mind.
How should I deal with a certain situation? I know. I’ll do just what Dad did 20 years ago. I’ll do what my boss did, what my pastor did – even what my kids did.
Yes, kids, even your actions count. If you go off the deep end, you are giving your parents permission to go off the deep end themselves. That may sound silly, but it’s true.
Titus 2:7 says, “In everything set them an example by doing what is good…”
First Timothy 4:12 says, “…set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”
The good news is that, by doing good, we can change the world for the better! We can set a good example for others – and they will follow.
Whether good or bad, people will follow in our footsteps. They will walk in the paths we clear for them.
So remember, everything you do gives someone else permission to do it.
If you do it, you approve it.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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