If you’re a young person who hopes to grow into a wise, productive, happy adult; then you’ll need to learn how to recognize poisonous ideas. Some ideas can literally ruin your life. If you can’t tell good advice from bad advice, you will probably never actually grow up. You’ll spend your life as a spoiled, entitled child who nobody likes very much.

Always be suspicious of advice that encourages you to put yourself first. We have plenty of selfish narcissists running around. Your public displays of self-love aren’t helping anyone, including yourself.

Your Mom and Dad were doing great before you came along. They made a lot of changes to accommodate your intrusion into their lives. You brought nothing into the family. You did nothing to sustain your existence.

What kind of person doesn’t feel like pleasing the people who literally kept her from dying?

“John, you jerk! Some parents are terrible! They neglect their kids or even abuse them! Are you telling me to please wicked, abusive parents??!!”

Very good! You see the problem! The worst parents on Earth live by the philosophy: “Parents don’t exist to please their kids.” They never actually grew up. They are spoiled, entitled children whose selfishness is spreading to another generation. They are producing children who don’t exist to please anyone but themselves.

The purpose of your existence is to please God. Doing that means honoring your parents even though they may not be worthy of honor. Living your life to please yourself makes you unworthy of honor too.

(Romans 8:5) The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.