| Published Articles William C. Jarvis, Ed.D. |
Published: July 12, 2008 6:00 a.m. “Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you can, in every place you can, at all the times you can, with all the zeal you can, as long as ever you can” – John Wesley Complete Love means Forgiving and Forgetting William Jarvis I Corinthians 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” The red rose represents love in American culture. The rose is the first flower a person thinks to give to his girlfriend, fiancée or wife to celebrate a special day or just to say, “I love you.” Love is the greatest gift you can give a person. There are many kinds of love: the romantic love of another person, the love of our family, the love of friends and the love a person has for God. The one common element of love is the complete feeling of putting the other person(s) before the interest of oneself. This is a desirable trait, but one often difficult to consistently accomplish. I Corinthians 13:4-8 makes it clear what active “love” looks like: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self- seeking. It is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” To love one another is a key to success in life for a person. If he loves that difficult person and takes away all his possibility to have an angry response, he develops a positive atmosphere and creates the ability to further communicate. All this is accomplished simply by loving the other person instead of building walls through jealously, pride or hate that separate a person from his dreams. The Bible tells us that living according to our sinful nature is not God’s intention for our lives. Complete love also includes forgiveness. A person often hears the expression, “I will forgive but I will not forget.” Oftentimes, putting love into action involves forgiveness. Jesus sets the example for us when in the Bible, he says: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” (Hebrews 10:17). One of the conditions for true forgiveness is to no longer remember the ill will of a person. This is an admirable characteristic of the purest aspect of love. There is no doubt that complete love would mean remembering no more the bad actions of others and thereby create an atmosphere where there can be significant personal improvement through adversity. A person may argue that not to remember allows the injustice to happen again, but a person can forget the animosity toward the person who was involved in the situation and remember the circumstance so you will not allow it to happen again. I was most impressed by an interview of an Amish father last year whose son was killed by another person. He said that he “forgave the person for this horrible crime.” This is why it tells us in the Bible: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (I Corinthians 13:13). It is only when a person truly forgets the sins of another that he can say he truly loves that person. This type of love is the most difficult to accomplish, yet the Lord truly forgives and loves each person. A person can monitor the frequency of comments each day and think about the specifics of any interactions he has demonstrated having or not having love. This is one way to put love into action. Recording comments and situations will keep the attributes of love the focus of attention in a person’s daily life. This will also make the absence of this trait apparent. Improvement in this area would be far less awareness of the sins of others and not to judge other people. A person is aware of his progress to attain this “fruit of the spirit.” Norman Vincent Peale said the following about love: “The most curative thought in the world is the thought of love. Just go around loving people. Cast out all negative thoughts and fill the mind with positive thoughts. Cast out all inferiority thoughts. Fill the mind with victorious thoughts. Healthy mindedness is what makes people healthy, vital and alive.” Journal Gazette, The (Fort Wayne, IN) - February 2, 2008 - FAITH PEOPLE OF PRAISE: Control builds personal strength Author: William Jarvis Word Count: 577 As I lay on a table, taking Occupational Therapy for my arm, the therapist had me make small circles with my arm stretched up straight. I was instructed to control my arm as I made clockwise and counterclockwise circles in the air. I said to the therapist, "It is very difficult to control my arm." She replied, "With control comes strength." I found this to be true. When one can control his arm or leg to make small movement, it often gives Journal Gazette - Sat, September 1, 2007 Former prof uses magic for Gospel By Rosa Salter Rodriguez The Journal Gazette The Fort Wayne resident also believes in magic, especially the power of stage magic to help spread the Gospel message. Jarvis, 62, was a professor of education at Taylor University Fort Wayne until a horrific car crash in 2000 left him in a five-week coma with limited muscle function and a serious brain injury....... Journal Gazette - Sat, May 05, 2007 Optimism, belief powerful catalysts for success By William Jarvis TBI Support Group co-leader Believe it can be done. When you believe something can be done, really believe, your mind will find the ways to do it. Believing a solution paves the way to solution. – Dr. David Schwartz A person must believe that he will be able to conquer adversity as he implements proactive strategies. Life will not be without difficulty, but it is having an optimistic outlook for tomorrow that determines the quality of life today. A person can be optimistic about the most devastating circumstances. This will make it more likely to get through adversity in life. God will always meet a person’s needs. It is mostly a psychological way of living life: Is the glass half empty or half full? The person who sees it half full believes life is basically good and he can always improve his circumstance, no matter how small. A person needs to be thankful for what he has, his blessings; there is always someone who has less. Journal Gazette - Sat, Mar. 03, 2007 PEOPLE OF Praise: Three truths cement faith in life's trials Source: William Jarvis TBI support group co-leader There is no need to worry about the future as you go through adversity. Faith will give you peace and the ability to withstand all aspects of your adversity. These are the three things I have learned through my adversity: *God will always take care of you *The power of faith is unlimited *God has a purpose for your life God will always take care of you How do I know? God has always taken care of me throughout every possible adversity in life. Through faith, the experience of.... Journal Gazette - December 16, 2006 PEOPLE OF Praise: Magic spins life, learning wonders Performing magic (tricks) significantly helps with social development, cognitive thought and language skills. There are programs that advocate the use of magic in therapy for people with disabilities such as Project Magic of David Copperfield and The Healing of Magic by Kevin and Cindy Spencer. Magic benefits the social development of the individual. This is reflected in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Levels: 1. Physiological (food, water, oxygen) 2. Safety (nurturance,... Journal Gazette - May 20, 2006 PEOPLE OF Praise: Faith, perseverance vital to overcoming obstacles It was Winston Churchill who said, "Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, give up. Never give up. Never give up. Never give up." A person will succeed the most if he doesn't relent in his effort when going through adversity. I was in an automobile collision in 2000 that resulted in a coma for five weeks, a fractured C1-C4 vertebrae, a punctured lung and a lacerated liver. The brain stem injury resulted in a traumatic brain injury. I was in three... Journal Gazette - December 17, 2005 PEOPLE OF Praise: Consistency holds key to success in life Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go. - William Feather Being consistent in effort is very important to success. Maximum success to get through adversity depends on it. I have experienced the effects of consistency as an educator in public school, a university professor and a patient in rehabilitation. First, consistency was important in dealing with children in a public school setting. I was always consistent in my approach to teaching. This... Journal Gazette - October 1, 2005 PEOPLE OF Praise: Visualization serves as crucial tool for success "Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will." - George Bernard Shaw Everyone's nightmare is to wake up in the hospital to find out you were in a car collision and cannot move. This happened to me in December 2000. During the months that followed, I had physical and occupational therapy, speech and many other therapies to regain cognitive and physical... |
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Book: Snail to the Finish-Leaning on Faith CLICK TITLE TO READ SUMMARY |