One of the best pieces of advice I felt I ever gave my children was this: Don’t do anything stupid. I once thought that it was people’s deep, dark psychological baggage or their upbringing that got their life fouled up. But the older I get, the more I have just decided that it is just plain stupidity. The Bible says in Ephesians 5:15, “Look carefully how you walk.” That is God’s nice way of saying, “Don’t do anything stupid.” It reminds me of my friend who got a brand new four-wheel drive truck. He came to a dirt road, down which lived a family that he was going to visit. There was a sign at the beginning of the road that said, “Road Closed-Bridge Out.” But my preacher friend was in his big four-wheel drive truck, and he decided that there was nothing that he couldn’t get across, so he ignored the warning sign. He got a couple of miles down the road where the bridge was out and he realized he couldn’t get across. So he had to turn around and go back. When he did, he noticed that on the back of the original sign at the beginning of the road someone had written the words, “Welcome back, stupid.” Listen, most of the time it is good old fashioned stupidity that gets us in trouble. When you are tempted to do something that you know is wrong, remember these words: Don’t do anything stupid. That choice can save your life.
– Dr. Tim Thompson