50 things I’ve learned in half of a century Today I’m half a century old! I thank God for the life that He gave me and I’m grateful for all the lessons that He allowed me to learn. I want to put down in writing some of the most important things I’ve learned and share them with my children. My prayer is that you will make your own list of the things that you have learned that have most impacted your life and the way you live, and share that with others. 1. The Bible is God’s inerrant Word. 2. Love means never having to admit that your wife was wrong. 3. Faith is not understanding everything God is doing. Faith is trusting that what He is doing is good and ultimately will bring glory to Him. 4. Cherish your parents. They are the one who will love you – even those times when you’re rather unlovable. 5. It doesn’t take much to encourage someone. And it takes even less to discourage them. 6. I will never get to read all the books I want to read. 7. Making your kids do what is right is not parenting. Training them to choose what is right is. 8. My friends are as precious to me as my family. 9. Life is too short to lose sleep over things you can’t control. 10. There is no problem, no diagnosis, no hurt or pain that is bigger than God. 11. Nobody is just normal. Each one is God’s unique masterpiece. 12. There are no coincidences in life, like the fact that “stressed” is “desserts” spelled backward. 13. Never be afraid to follow God’s will. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark while a large group of professionals built the Titanic. 14. A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person. 15. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Everyone you meet in a day is fighting their own battle, even the person that cut you off in traffic. 16. People will remember how you treat them long after they have forgotten your sermons. 17. Either you control your attitude or it controls you. 18. It takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it. 19. The people who wound are wounded themselves. 20. It’s a lot easier to react than to think. 21. It’s not what you have in life, but who you have in life that counts. 22. Learning to forgive takes practice. 23. The most important people in the pastor’s life are those he can have an honest conversation with. 24. The end of the chapter does not determine the end of the book. 25. No matter how good a friend is, they are going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that. 26. You can keep going long after you think you can’t. 27. You should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them. 28. You should never tell a child their dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if they believed it. 29. You can’t avoid offending people from time to time. When you don’t mean it, apologize. When you do mean it, accept the consequences. 30. Keeping perspective is the key to contentment. From a distance, even a bumpy road looks smooth. 31. Keeping an open mind is as big a challenge as you get older as keeping a consistent waistline. 32. Anyone who judges you by the kind of car you drive or shoes you wear isn’t someone worth impressing. 33. Never let anyone make you act like you don’t know Jesus. 34. Great parents can have rotten kids and rotten parents can have great kids. But even though biology plays a huge role in destiny, that’s no excuse to give up or stop trying. 35. When your kids ask for your permission, they’ve almost certainly already asked and received a “no” from your spouse. 36. Sedentary people may not be as healthy as exercise junkies, but they almost never need knee replacements. 37. The person who tells you the best gossip is also telling your secrets to everyone they know. 38. Annoying or complaining people aren’t fun to be around. So if you want people to be around you, don’t be annoying or complaining. 39. If you’re thinking of someone, pick up the phone and call them. Too often I’ve put it off and then discovered it was too late. 40. Blessings often come cloaked as mistakes. Opportunities for growth come veiled as hardships. Be ready to roll up your sleeves and get to the heart of the matter. 41. I’ve forgotten about most of the things I’ve ever owned, but I’ve never forgotten the experiences that I’ve had or the people I’ve shared them with. 42. Mistakes are an inevitable fact of life. Learn from your mistakes and remember that they often make funny conversational material at parties, eulogies, weddings and so on. But probably wise to leave them out of job interviews. 43. If you’re right, you don’t need to raise your voice. If you’re wrong, you can’t afford to. 44. When your children become teenagers, the less you say, the sooner they’ll come over to your way of thinking. 45. Drive the speed limit and you’ll never worry about how much the speeding ticket is going to cost. 46. Time spent holding your children or just tickling them is never time wasted. One day they won’t want to anymore. 47. There is more than one right way to do something. 48. Loss and pain will force you to choose between bitter or better. 49. Never let success get to your head; and never let failure get to your heart. 50. Readers love lists. You got to the bottom of this one, didn’t you? 51. You don’t have to be perfect, or always on time, or to be exact. Which is why this is item #51 on the list of 50 things. 52. I have a lot left to learn in the next 50 years.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 13:15:27 +0000
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