Who you think you are determines your destiny. If you believe you are a child of God growing up to look like and act like Him in every way, you will do so. If you believe you are a ‘sinner saved by grace’, you will spend 75-90 years on the planet on the same legalistic gerbil-wheel your parents were on. Learn who you are!
Young guys: You don’t know everything. Old guys: you don’t know everything. And everyone in between: you don’t know everything. Yes, you’re perfect, but you don’t know everything.
Look up this word in the dictionary: ‘tact’. Memorize it. Read books on it. Write songs and sing about it.
Knowledge is knowing what to say, wisdom is knowing when to say it.
Humility is not a four-letter word.
The reason I don’t self-deprecatingly call myself ‘fat’ is because I am not my body. Within this external frame is a picture of the living Christ, an intelligent, wise and noble son of the living God. Within this skin and bone the spirit of God dwells, ready to bless the entire planet with the joy of the Lord. This shell, this carton of life, may not outwardly conform to the fashion or health standards of 21st-century America, but it is not the entire picture of who I am. There are challenges I face in dealing with this frame, most notably the urge to eat for comfort or entertainment, but those struggles pale and are even nonexistent in the light of the amount of glory that pours through me from the throne of God. The light of God pours through every blood cell, tissue, sinew, artery, and vein, because I am one with Christ and He is one with the Father. The external shell you see? It’ll straighten out, it’ll become healthier because God is in me. If we don’t see each other, in a year’s time you wouldn’t recognize me. Why? Because God lives in me, so things can’t help but get better. Because words like ‘fat’ and ‘obese’ do not describe me. ‘Glorious’, ‘funny’, ‘smart’, ‘handsome’, ‘graceful’, ‘interesting’, ‘amazing’, ‘kick-ass’, ‘honest’, ‘reliable’, ‘hard-working’, and ‘awesome’ are words that other people have used to describe me. I own those. I disown words that do not apply to a child of God. If they would not say such things about the Messiah, Jesus, if they saw Him in His full glory, they should not say such things about me, for I am a joint heir with Him and have been made just like him inside. If my outward actions and behavior do not conform to expectation, perhaps your expectation needs to be adjusted. I may not meet all of man’s standards or expectations, but I have a perfect heart before God and he will straighten out whatever is crooked, both in me and in you.
