So in the previous article titled “Happiness is a choice”, i wrote about the elements that help to set a solid foundation for happiness. Today I want to go a little bit further into that and add one more element in there because I believe it is what makes the mix full proof. Firstly though, there is something about being grateful for what you do have that takes your attention away from perceiving other people’s lives as being better than yours. Gratitude allows you to acknowledge that each day is a gift and that you have permission to show up on purpose for each one.
I like this quote attributed to Maya Angelou,
“I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better”
The meaning there is so deep for such simple words. It spreads hope for salvation from our past ignorance and inspires us to begin putting our best foot forward in being that unique bright light in this dark world. We are human beings for a reason, we are meant to be the salt which flavours the Earth. That means being the point of contact for God’s love to others and be the hope that there is a future when we choose to walk it with God.
We all started out lost
We are on this journey of knowing and though in our childhood we were made to know by those who had gone before us. Our maturity sees us beginning to consciously give ourselves to knowing and that is the true beauty of life. We get to a certain point where we can’t live on the things that we used to know even if they made up our reality for a long time. The fact is once their time of relevance has passed no amount of resuscitation will bring it back.
You were lost once but being found cancelled out the relevance of your previous lostness even if there are still areas which need reformation. Something I’ve noticed even with myself is that It’s not that we don’t know the importance of leaving the past behind. We know and accept that it cannot be changed but it’s the fact that we are haunted by the prospect of a new reality.
We have only ever known how to do what we have known at the time. I think in many ways that is why we have all this great advice out there that no one seems to take. It’s clearly not an advice problem but an internal problem where as long as we are not ready to accept a new reality we will always be drawn back into our old identity.
The key element
The bible is rich with scripture that supports the fact that love is essential in all that we do. We are to love our God with all our hearts and we are to love our brothers as we love ourselves yet how do we do this? We surely cannot pull it off on our own. We have already tried that and that is why we now surrender it all to Him because it is through Him and all that is to do with Him that we get the strength and wisdom to see it through.
We are predisposed to love but there are things in the world that would happily poison our perspective on the power it actually has. You see the enemy’s job is to discredit the truth. He thrives on pride and unhealthy beliefs which we can overcome by seeking to know the truth. The truth about love is found in seeking it, “seek ye first the kingdom of God (who is love) and his righteousness and all of these things will be added unto you” [Matthew 6:33]
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not self-seeking, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves.”
[1 Corinthians 13:4-7]
Love will cure your broken heart, it will help you to forgive yourself and others, it will stop you when you start thinking that you are not worth it, it will attract more of it into your life and it will make your past pale in comparison to your future. Love will inspire our hearts for all the hard decisions we ever have to make and it will cause us to make the better choice always.
And so my prayer today is that God would feed our desire for the truth as only He can. That He would use the everyday scripture we quote, debate or discuss to enlighten us to our individual purpose of love. That He would cause love to abound so that all else may fall into place. Amen
