Benjamin Franklin

I had never known much about Benjamin Franklin, but I have to say that I was not impressed. Although, I admire his self-discipline and motivation for being a good person I think he put way to much thought into scheduling his life.  First, I’m going to comment on what I admire about him so I don’t sound like such a critic. I admire the fact that he taught himself so many languages; French, Spanish, Italian, and Latin. I also need to be somewhat sympathetic of him because his father offered him as an offering to the church as a young boy, and then he had to leave school to work for his father. He seemed to be forced into a serious world growing up, and I give him credit for continuing to be a good person even though he could have rebelled. I admire his ambition for wanting to please God.

On the other end of the spectrum, I wish he enjoyed some freedom in the Lord. Joy and freedom come with being a Christian and I don’t feel that through his literature voice. His schedules that he had set out to make a timeslots that planned out his day are overwhelming. When one focuses so much on what they’re doing, and if they’re pleasing God, than they can start to become too much into the self. That could turn into pride or insecurity, if one is constantly critiquing themselves. 

I could definitely learn from Franklin that although Christ has won it doesn’t mean that we can sit around. There needs to be some self-discipline and if we love the Lord we will want to work for Him. Also, I don’t want to put down Benjamin Franklin, but I do hope that he had some joy in his life. I just want to give him a pat on the back and let him know that Christ loves him so much.