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Bible Verse for Bonus Day: For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago Ephesians 2:10.

While working at an exclusive boarding school in Switzerland, I led 20 sophomores on a cultural trip to France. As we waited for a restaurant meal, I scribbled a phone number on the back of my business card. One student curiously asked to see the card, and soon the boys were passing it around.

To my surprise, they started reaching into their wallets and adding their own business cards to the mix. Their identities didn't necessarily match their titles (yet), but those 15-year-old boys' business cards held impressive titles reflecting their parents' international businesses.

One card, written entirely in Arabic, stood out. It belonged to Sultan, the son of a Saudi prince. I asked, "What does it say?" Sultan explained that the first line was his name. The second said "son of" and then his father's name. The third line said "son of" and then his grandfather's name, and so on, back seven generations. Otherwise the card was blank.

"This isn't a business card, Sultan!" I said. "This says who you are. But what do you do?"

Without hesitating, he answered politely, "Sir, who I am is what I do."

—Timothy Stuart in Raising Children at Promise

My Bonus Day Response: Does my identity as a child of God dictate my behavior in the same way that Sultan's royalty influenced his actions?

Adapted from Raising Children at Promise (Jossey-Bass, 2005) by permission.

Copyright © 2007 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Lord, grant me a clearer view of myself that includes both giftedness and fallenness.

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