1. How to Be Miserable in 20 Easy Steps!
Sometimes one comes across a note or a quote or a remark that leaves an impression on you. Here then a list I came upon. It made me to sit up and think a little.
1. Use "I" as often as possible.
2. Always be sensitive to slights.
3. Be jealous and envious.
4. Think only about yourself.
5. Talk only about yourself.
6. Trust no one.
7. Never forget a criticism.
8. Always expect to be appreciated.
9. Be suspicious.
10. Listen greedily to what others say about you.
11. Look for faults in others.
12. Shirk your duties if you can.
13. Do as little as possible for others.
14. Never forget a service you may have rendered.
15. Sulk if people are not grateful for your favors.
16. Insist on consideration and respect.
17. Demand agreement with your own views on everything.
18. Always look for a good time.
19. Love yourself first.
20. Be selfish at all times!
I think Paul came upon such a list when he wrote to the church at Corinth:
1Co 3:1 And I, brothers, could not speak to you as to spiritual ones, but as to fleshly, as to babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk and not with solid food, for you were not yet able to bear it; nor are you able even now. 3 For you are yet carnal. For in that there is among you envyings and strife and divisions, are you not carnal, and do you not walk according to men?
Perhaps if we would just do some self evaluation, we might see why it always comes down to “they don`t understand me” or “they always pick on me” or “they never see it my way”. Maybe it`s not “them”.
Always wanting to `make your point` or having to `win the argument` or `they need to know how I feel` or `having to have the last word` is in fact not about `them`. It`s about `you`. And when it`s always about me, then perhaps the problem lies with `me`.
I read this short story a couple of days ago:
When Marie Antoinette came to Paris as a bride, not a single ragged or starving person appeared on the streets along which the splendid procession passed. France was seething with discontent at the time, born of dire poverty-a discontent that was later to break out in the horrors of the Revolution-but Marie Antoinette was not to know anything about that. So the poor starving populace were swept into the side streets where they could not be seen and kept penned up there so that Marie Antoinette might think all was happy and prosperous in Paris. But optimism based on ignorance is not optimism at all. Optimism gained by a refusal to face the facts is deliberate self-deception. Fear to face reality stems from fear of the sacrifice and labor of love that may be involved. Selfishness turns away its face from the sorrows, shames, and failures of others. But love dares to look at the head bowed with grief and the face paled with suffering.
Pro 15:31 The ear that hears the reproof of life shall remain among the wise. 32 He who refuses instruction despises his own soul, but he who hears reproof gets understanding.
2. Indecision is a fatal decision
Which of these excuses tempt you to stay in the "grey twilight" of indecision?
o If I try, I might fail.
o People might think I'm stupid.
o I'll stick with what I do best.
o If I really commit to something, then I'll have to change the way I live.
o The dog ate it.
o If I say yes to something, I'll have to say no to lots of other things.
o I want to keep my options open.
o I can't do that!
o There's nothing I can do.
o I tried it before, and it didn't work.
o I'll just pray about it.
Deu 30:19 Let heaven and earth be my witnesses against you this day that I have put before you life and death, a blessing and a curse: so take life for yourselves and for your seed: 20 In loving the Lord your God, hearing his voice and being true to him: for he is your life and by him will your days be long: so that you may go on living in the land which the Lord gave by an oath to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Christians must be `people of intent`.
Everything in life is based on choice. We can not live life, without having to make or take certain decisions. We choose where we live, how we dress, how we react to situations. Everything is about choice.
I even choose my attitude. The old cliché says “your attitude will determine your altitude”. It might be a cliché`, but it still remains truth.
What goes on around me, can not be allowed to determine my attitude. That is why we need to be people of intent.
To love someone with the love of Christ is a choice. To forgive a hurt, or a wrong done against me, is a choice.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, a quiet mind, kind acts, well-doing, faith, 23 Gentle behaviour, control over desires: against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ's have put to death on the cross the flesh with its passions and its evil desires. 25 If we are living by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us be guided. 26 Let us not be full of self-glory, making one another angry, having envy of one another.
And those who are Christ's have put to death on the cross the flesh with its passions and its evil desires.
To crucify the flesh and it`s passions, is a choice.
I intentionally chose to live a life that bears the fruit of the Spirit. It does not just happen. It takes effort and it takes self-control. I have to put down all pride and purposefully and constantly check myself.
I have to make the adjustments in my own life in order to line up with the Word of God. The Word will and can not be adjusted to suit me. I have to conform to it`s values.
3. The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own.
Ø No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours - it is an amazing journey - and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.
No person should allow another person to control his/her life. Circumstance can not take charge of your life. ‘Things’ happen. ‘Life’ happens. Bad things happen to good people.
It’s not about what happens to you – it’s about the way you respond to the things that happen to you.
Pro 25:28 A person without self-control is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out.
Have you ever seen an abandoned house – after vandals and hooligans got hold of it?
The Bible compares a person without self control to just that.
In order to avoid my house being vandalized and damaged, I have to protect it, I have to place guards around it if need be, in order to avoid permanent damage.
Pro 4:23 Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that's where life starts.
I can not leave my heart unprotected. I need to be so careful who I allow into my heart. Some will come in and take good care, but others will come in and create a mess, and when they leave they do not care about the damage they leave behind. Guess who needs to clean up and pick up the pieces.
Self-control helps me to protect that which is important to me.
Msg bible: Rom 12:1 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life, your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 2 don’t become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Self control comes with a sense of accountability.
I am responsible for my actions.
I determine the actions I am willing to take.
I control the thoughts I entertain.
I decide the path of life I want to travel on.
God has the best plan for my life, but I decide to follow that plan or not to follow it.
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