Mr. Gerald Weston: The Road to a Successful Life
Author: Katelyn Wissinger| Student, Living Education – Charlotte, 2024-25
Mr. Weston began his recent forum to the students by asking, “What do you want out of life?” Many go through life by living in the moment, making money, and focusing on having fun without figuring out what life is about. Only when people realize they are nearing the end of their lives do they usually begin to reflect on what they have achieved. Mr. Weston spoke to us about how to live a successful life and how we can get there.
Firstly, we need to consider the big picture. Matthew 6:33 states the ultimate purpose of life, which is to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matt 6:33). Life is short, and there is no comparison between our life now and the eternal life we are promised if we stay faithful throughout our lives.
After talking about the big picture, Mr. Weston then narrowed the focus of his forum to how to achieve what we want now. As young adults, we will be entering the stage of life where we can marry and have careers. For us women, he discussed the importance of getting an education but not choosing a career over being a homemaker and wife. Men should consider how their career choice and job opportunity will impact their ability to support a wife. Mr. Weston then pointed out that whether male or female, we should all be working diligently now because “The soul of a lazy man desires and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.” (Prov 13:4). Diligently working means being teachable and working hard. Achieving success, being more than the average person in our life and our job, isn’t so hard when we work hard and take pride in doing a good job. Knowing our life is short, Ecclesiastes 9:10 exhorts us to work while we can and do it with our might.
Mr. Weston’s forum implored us to think about our goals in life and how we can achieve them by looking far into the future and right around the corner. We need to take the time to reflect now on what we want from life instead of waiting until near the end, when we can do little to change it. We need to consider our goals in life!
