Things to Stop Doing for a Better 2013 and a Better Life

It’s almost a new year. Most of us usually come up with a few things we want to do so that we have a better life: Exercising regularly, spending more time with family, and getting organized. All are noble endeavors. Most of us would do well at doing each of them or something similar. But true transformation happens when we stop doing certain things. Think about the possibilities of what your life would look like if you stopped doing the following:

Stop neglecting your relationship with God. Use God’s wisdom and resources to heal you and become the person God created you to become. 

Stop holding on to your past failures and hurts. You have failed before and you have been hurt. Your past will not define or predict your future unless you let it. Stop letting it. Instead of lamenting over past failures and hurts, learn from them, and do your part to make tomorrow better than yesterday. 

Stop running from problems and dysfunctional behaviors. Avoiding real issues that need to be dealt with are not going to move you forward in life. Prioritize and tackle your problems one at a time. 

Stop pleasing people. It is not possible to fully and continually please another person. So stop trying. Do you really want an imperfect person’s perceptions about you to determine your self-worth? Listen to people. Serve people. Love people. But don’t let others determine your value and happiness. 

Stop being indecisive about what you want. Find your passion and pursue it. Today. There are only so many tomorrows. A year from now, you will wish you had started today. You won’t get to choose when or how you are going to die. But, you can decide how you are going to live today. Define and chase your dreams. 

Stop being afraid to take a few risks. Your greatest regrets in life will not be times you have fallen or not succeeded. Your greatest regrets in life will be the opportunities you didn’t take. You can get up from a fall. You can’t make a shot you don’t take. 

Stop being ungrateful. Envy and jealousy are cruel criminals. They steal today’s blessings like no other. Every moment you spend practicing envy and jealousy, you miss the beauty of life’s many blessings. And you have many of them! You will not experience contentment if you don’t enjoy and if you aren’t intentionally thankful for your current blessings. 

Stop not living in the present. Life’s greatest moments are spontaneous and not planned. We can plan and create environments where great moments happen, but we must live in the present to experience the great moment. We were not created to be spectators in this once-to-be-lived-and-never-to-be-repeated life. We are participants. So participate. Today. 

The best is yet to come (especially if you are able to stop doing these things)... 

Craig

Zōē

Life. We only get one shot at it. At least in this world anyway. It is a tragedy when a person dies too young. It is a bigger tragedy when a person of any age dies who has never lived.

ζωή - zōē – life

The Greek word for life is zōē (pronounced Zo-E). It means a life that is real and genuine. A life that is active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, and one that lasts forever. I’m guessing zōē is something we all thirst for. Like lemonade on a hot and sunny summer day. Zōē isn’t mediocre, it doesn’t wonder what might have been, it has few regrets and less fears, and it relies on God’s unlimited resources.

My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying zōē. –John 10:10

We all face challenges in life. Some of these challenges are like pebbles in our shoes. They are ever-present and can wear us down. Other challenges are like big mountain we must climb. Overcoming great adversity and big challenges means big rewards and great lives. Don't settle for small and mediocre. God created you for something better.

Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. -Joshua 1:9

We miss one-hundred percent of the shots we do not take. Søren Kierkegaard wrote: "To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself." Take a risk today. Take a few of them. If you succeed you will experience joy. If you fail you will gain wisdom. Either of those is a whole lot better than wasting away wondering what might have been. Do you really want to reach the last of your days wondering what might have been?

Christ has truly set us free. -Galatians 5:1

We are in chains as prisoners in a locked cage. The keys are in our hands. Our cage is regret from the past. Our chains are fears for the future. Use the keys. Forgive yourself, have faith in the future, and experience freedom.

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. -Ephesians 3:16

The above words are part of a prayer I pray for Benjamin and David every day. That they will live by God’s unlimited resources and not their limited resources. If you are wondering today if you have the resources to do what you are dreaming about doing, remember Jesus fed thousands with five loaves of bread and two fish. What is impossible today is possible tomorrow. What is impossible by ourselves is possible likely because of God.

The best is yet to come…

Craig

A Blank Page

Revelation 21

This is a new year. 2011 is a blank page for you. You get to decide what pictures will be taken and which stories will be written. You are the photographer and the author. It's your life, your story, and your year.

But your page isn't really blank, is it? We have financial obligations, dysfunction in our relationships, past hurts, and other burdens we continue to carry. God allows us to erase the scribblings from our past and start anew with a blank page. New attitudes, a new outlook, and new possibilities. To build from our brokenness and to grow from our strengths.

In verse 1 the Bible talks about the “old things” disappearing. What are some things in your life you would like to see disappear and become old?

In verse 5 the Bible talks about God “making all things new.” Review your list from yesterday about what you would like to become new this year. What would you like to add? What would you like to emphasize?

Spend some time in prayer about the letting go of brokenness and building blessedness.