The recent social media battle between Chick-Fil-A and Popeye’s was fun to follow, but for me, Chick-Fil-A wins because of the time I got to spend with its founder, Truett Cathy, when I was a young man. I was blessed to call him a source of wisdom in my life. In fact, much of his counsel still guides me to this day.
During my second year of college, I applied for a job at Chick-Fil-A headquarters in Atlanta. They hired me and placed me in shipping and receiving. My daily job was to make sure packages went out to the right places all over the country and then to make sure incoming packages were delivered to the right departments internally.
The work was nice, but every once in a while, a phone call would come in, and they would toss me the keys to the giant white Ford LTD with the Chick-Fil-A symbol on its doors. My job was to drive to the Atlanta airport, where I would pull up to the curb so Truett could hop in next to me, and I would drive him back to the office.
Truett invested so much in me, just a young college student, in those short drives. He always asked how I was doing, and we’d just talk about general stuff, but in the middle of our talks, his wisdom would begin to surface. I’d take in every word, absorbing it and relishing it, and one thing that always stuck out to me was Truett always said everything we do is to glorify God.
There was a huge sign that hung outside the Chick-fil-A headquarters. It was a Truett Cathy quote, one he used all the time, and it said, “Do it right the first time, every time.” That quote has stuck with me so that even to this day, if something breaks at my house and I’m tempted to take the easy route, those words will ring out in my head—Do it right the first time, every time. That’s wisdom I caught from some very Godly counsel. It still helps determine and direct my course, and it will serve me to the day I’m called home to Heaven.
Ask yourself if you’ve chosen wise counsel. Do you listen to those who have already walked the Godly way and who know that way? I encourage you to find good counsel because it can save you from a great deal of heartache.
Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” I urge you to ask yourself if your friends are sharpening you spiritually. Are they leading you in a good way that will build up your life and make you a better person? Or are they dulling your spiritual senses, leading you farther from Christ and closer to destruction?
Read more about the biggest mistakes we make when we turn away from God’s instruction and how to get back on the right path in my book Seven Stupid Things People Do To Mess Up Their Lives (and how not to do them).