It has been a while, I joined you here my dear child. I never knew it would be this long before I return to you and our discussion. Please bear with me. I was confronted with certain situations, which demanded all of me.  I think we have one commandment to go. But I have decided to add the 13^th commandment. I want to assure you that this discussion will surely end tomorrow. I think I should go on with the next commandment

12. Live by Values: my dear child, I have told you to put God first when we began this discussion. It is for me my number one value. Your values represent what you stand for. It is the definition of your essence and beliefs. It is not your views on a matter it is your beliefs, for which you are ready to pay. I listened to a teenage girl recently sharing about her values. She lives in a community, where it is considered fun to begin to have sex at a very early. It is the norm to announce that you are sexually active. She says to a large crowd of people, ‘I am a virgin. I have decided to put books before boys because boys bring babies.’ I was encouraged by her solemn declaration about her commitment to the value of purity and order. The other day, a young man told me of his commitment not to embrace examination malpractices. He tells me, he would rather fail than to cheat. He says to me there is no shortcut in life and that you can only cheat in an examination hall, but you cannot cheat nature. He also said something very sound that when you cheat in an examination and you rejoice that you are not caught by men, nature has caught you and very soon, he will make an open show of shame of you. I also read about the story of Adeife Akin-Deko, who rallied her friends to rebuild a school, exhibiting the values of selflessness and service to humanity.

My dear child, permit me to tell you that all that I have referred to as commandments are values. The question is, what exactly do you stand for my dear child? If you do not stand for anything, you become an easy prey in the hands of predators; you will be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine until you are tossed into the deep, where drowning takes place. It is time to declare what you stand for and stand by it come rain, come shine. You are not too young to takes a stand. Dr. Myles Monroe took a stand as a teenager. He chose to be different. Today the story is different. The whole world is celebrating him for his values.

Permit me to say to you my dear child that if we cannot be identified with our values, we cannot be identified at ll. We are not what our physical body says we are, ugly, handsome, charming, beautiful and all. We are what our values says we are. Values is everything my dear child. You do not make friends, my child, values do; you do not talk, values do; you do not fight, values do. I can go on and on. I guess, the point, I am trying to make is that you produces after your values because, you make your choices according to your values.

I will not say much to you today. I believe you have learnt what values mean, how they work and how you can use it to drive personal and societal change. You are the change your world is waiting for, show up with your values and make a mark the world will not forget …This is your difference…Pursue it my dear child.

I am out of here my dear child. I promise to be with you tomorrow unfailingly, to bring this discussion to a glorious close. Do have an INSPIRED day.