DGM highlighted some great points from Obama’s recent speech to children. In general, Obama emphasizes the importance of taking responsibility for your future. He promotes a high work ethic, discipline, and passion in order to become the kind of citizens that make America a better country. Awesome.

Let’s raise responsible citizens. Teach them the value of working with the world and for the world, with city and for the city, but not so that we can be successful. Instead raise good citizens so that Jesus can be shown to be successful, great, and worthy of his awesome title “Lord.” As the Wordle of Obama’s speech shows, “country” and “America” were prominent in his address. Rightly so. He is the president of the United States of America.

H0wever, let’s be careful not to make country first and keep Christ first. Let’s pledge allegiance to Jesus. Let’s be good students and citizens not ultimately for our country but ultimately for Christ. Let’s put Christ first and country second. If we do, we will bless our country more than we could think or imagine. Let’s heed Obama’s voice, rely on God’s strength, bless our country, and demonstrate that Jesus is Lord!

• I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.
• I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.
• But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities.
• Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.
• And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education.
• Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class.
• Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new.
• I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work — that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.
• But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

Read the whole speech.