Thursday, November 11, 2010

Life is all about choices

I received this last year from Richard Jones and I have kept it up in my office ever since. It is worth reading every single day. I hope the message challenges and blesses you the way it has me.

Life is all about choices

It is now that I must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I’m free to choose. And so I choose.

I choose love:
No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I choose joy:
I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical…the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I choose peace:
I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live. I will live in deep assurance that I am in right relationship with God because of Jesus, not my own doing.

I choose patience:
I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.




I choose kindness:
I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I choose goodness:
I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.

I choose faithfulness:
Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.

I choose gentleness:
Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it only be in praise. If I clench my fist, may it only be in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only to myself.

I choose self-control:
I am a spiritual being…I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Jesus. I choose self-control.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day.