Nations, states communities and even families have laws. These are simple rules by which people must live in order to have harmony. If we didn't have rules or laws to govern ourselves, society would be impossible.

If a person breaks the law of the land, he is penalized in some way. He might be fined or sent to prison. If you break one of your family's laws or rules, you get penalized, too. Maybe your time to watch television is cut back, or maybe you get grounded.

Each of us needs his own set of laws to govern himself, too. These are your personal standards, the laws by which you live. In Scouting, we call those standards the Scout Law.

What's the penalty for breaking the Scout Law? Maybe you think the penalty would not be so bad, but let's consider it for a moment. If you're not trustworthy, people will never depend on you. If you're not friendly, you won't have many friends. If you're not obedient to your teachers, parents and others in authority, you can't expect that other people will obey you when you're in authority.

There's a good reason for every kind of law - our nation's, our town's, our family's and our own. They show how we can live in harmony with others and with ourselves. Let's think about that as we repeat the Scout Law. (Lead Law).