The ABCS of Life by J. Randal Matheny Life is governed by principle. God set up this world to run by his rules. When we recognize and follow them, well do very well. Lets mention three important ones right now. ACCEPT others as they are. One of the great disappointments is to expect something of others that doesnt pan out. There are few exceptions to the rule that you cannot force others to do what you want. (One exception: parents should require certain things of their children, like studying.) But you cannot make people change. You may use persuasion. Some try manipulation. In the end, however, you must come to accept people as they are, with all their foibles, follies, and failures. The flip side: there is much to admire and imitate in others. There is also much to encourage and praise. Though youd never know it by the 6 oclock news, good people abound to enjoy, learn from, and get close to. BEAUTIFY your circumstances. Some circumstances cannot be changed. I cannot bring someone back from the dead. I cannot change what happened yesterday. I will never be younger than I am now. But even the unchangeable circumstances can be redeemed. My wifes uncles wifes mother (whew!) is over 90, but she still puts on makeup every day and goes to the beauty shop every week. Mike Brookss article, Consider the Lilies,/1 reminds us that even what we back in rural Arkansas called the dirt-poor can choose to spruce up their situation. Believe it or not, you can sweep a dirt floor! Or you can plant a flower in the midst of poverty. Or a seed that will change the future. If you cant move, redecorate! CHANGE your life. You cant change others directly, and you will have to live with many immutable circumstances, but one area where you can tinker, dig, stretch, mess and gom is your own life. Your mind. Your heart. Your conscience and soul. There are two kinds of change. One is when you think or act wrongly and need to rectify and redirect. Thats called repentance. The second is making progess and encouraging development of virtue. Thats called growth. We need both kinds of change to do the job right. Prisoners of war discovered that in their restrictions and limitations, they could still work freely in the inner person. How much more can we roll up our sleeves, rip out rotten beams, and install right attitudes and actions?! The ABCs of life are there to be discovered. And used. In order for you to have the life that shines. Remember, its your day to shine! Brightly, - J. Randal Matheny, missionary and minister, is the publisher of Uplift, an on-line and e-mail devotional. He may be contacted through this website: randalmatheny/doku.php?id=uplift When reprinting this material, please be sure to include the following: Copyright (c) 2006 J. Randal Matheny All rights reserved. You may forward the email to friends as is. You may not alter it in any way or remove any text or attributions.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 12:08:37 +0000
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