Welcome!
A Brand New Year has come and so many resolutions pop up. How many of them will we stick to until the end of this year.
Today’s Special
I think resolutions should be made. But what’s the secret of keeping them? That’s what we’ll talk about tonight!
I believe all resolutions should be based in principles because that way they can grow strong and resist changing moods, circumstances and whatever environmental factors. Therefore, instead of discussing about resolutions to be made, lets talk about the principles that should base them.
GRATITUDE
Has anyone ever told you - you ought to be thankful? Well, being told we ought to be thankful rarely causes us to be more thankful. Gratitude happens best when we keep our eyes open to spot real gifts that come our way. Let’s learn how to open your eyes to the real gifts that surround you by taking a look at 4 characteristics of a real gift.
A real gift comes with a giver attached
A real gift cost something to give but nothing to get
Giving is a gamble
Real gifts take us by surprise
TRANSPARENCY
In any area of life you cannot lead someone where you’ve never been. And to try to do so is not living a life of integrity, of transparency. Transparency means owning your own story, not pretending to be someone else and not spinning your story to be smarter than you are or dumber than you are, poorer than you are, richer than you are, better than you are or worse than you are. Integrity is owning the story God has given us to write.
We own the hand we’ve been dealtWe have not all been born with an equal set of gifts, talents, or opportunities. Integrity begins with owning the hand that we’ve been dealt.
We own our woundsSomewhere in our story, we are bound to get hurt. Most of us are wounded forever and to disown our wound is to be untrue to ourselves. The wounds can be forgiven, and you can move past them, but the scars remain.
We own our dark sideIf we are going to write an honest story, we have to factor in the dark side. Don’t pretend we don’t have that chapter. When we own our dark side we free ourselves from the constant energy drain of trying to be someone that we are not.
PROACTIVENESS
God grants to us responsibility for our life. He is still in control. He is still leading things, He is still opening and closing doors and windows of opportunity, but we are responsible. True spirituality, which includes self-control, accepts this truth - that God grants to me responsibility for my life and the things that happen in my life. I am responsible for my life. What I am not, is a victim. Any problem that I've got in my life, with my job, with my marriage, with my physical condition, my intellectual capacity, or my spiritual condition, is not the fault of the weather, the government, the church, my relatives, God or anyone else. I am responsible. Period.
A Brand New Year has come and so many resolutions pop up. How many of them will we stick to until the end of this year.
Today’s Special
I think resolutions should be made. But what’s the secret of keeping them? That’s what we’ll talk about tonight!
I believe all resolutions should be based in principles because that way they can grow strong and resist changing moods, circumstances and whatever environmental factors. Therefore, instead of discussing about resolutions to be made, lets talk about the principles that should base them.
GRATITUDE
Has anyone ever told you - you ought to be thankful? Well, being told we ought to be thankful rarely causes us to be more thankful. Gratitude happens best when we keep our eyes open to spot real gifts that come our way. Let’s learn how to open your eyes to the real gifts that surround you by taking a look at 4 characteristics of a real gift.
A real gift comes with a giver attached
A real gift cost something to give but nothing to get
Giving is a gamble
Real gifts take us by surprise
TRANSPARENCY
In any area of life you cannot lead someone where you’ve never been. And to try to do so is not living a life of integrity, of transparency. Transparency means owning your own story, not pretending to be someone else and not spinning your story to be smarter than you are or dumber than you are, poorer than you are, richer than you are, better than you are or worse than you are. Integrity is owning the story God has given us to write.
We own the hand we’ve been dealtWe have not all been born with an equal set of gifts, talents, or opportunities. Integrity begins with owning the hand that we’ve been dealt.
We own our woundsSomewhere in our story, we are bound to get hurt. Most of us are wounded forever and to disown our wound is to be untrue to ourselves. The wounds can be forgiven, and you can move past them, but the scars remain.
We own our dark sideIf we are going to write an honest story, we have to factor in the dark side. Don’t pretend we don’t have that chapter. When we own our dark side we free ourselves from the constant energy drain of trying to be someone that we are not.
PROACTIVENESS
God grants to us responsibility for our life. He is still in control. He is still leading things, He is still opening and closing doors and windows of opportunity, but we are responsible. True spirituality, which includes self-control, accepts this truth - that God grants to me responsibility for my life and the things that happen in my life. I am responsible for my life. What I am not, is a victim. Any problem that I've got in my life, with my job, with my marriage, with my physical condition, my intellectual capacity, or my spiritual condition, is not the fault of the weather, the government, the church, my relatives, God or anyone else. I am responsible. Period.
We gain control by surrendering the need to win the approval of other people.
We surrender by
letting go of the unfair wounds that we did not deserve.
We surrender by
letting go of the unfair wounds that we did not deserve.
I loved this passage. Specially the part about "transparency". I always believed that God made us with all our characteristics. My favorite book "Just like Jesus" by Max Lucado, says that Jesus loves you just the way you are but He refuses to leave you that way, He wants you to be just like Jesus. Of course circumstances and events around us "helps" shape up some of our personality; but I think that we should be transparent in our wishes and thoughts (desires really) and just when we are true to that we are then in the path to true solid planing of our life. because we will be asking and working towards what we really want instead of just doing what's right for the eyes of our family and church. I'm glad to know that God does grants us the wishes of our hearts and that we should only just pray for God to put in our minds and hearts the right plan, wishes and desires.
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