WELCOME to my blog! I’m thrilled that you clicked on this article. Why am I so excited about you being here? Easy, because if you honestly apply the 3 things I’m about to share with you, I truly believe your LIFE WILL BEGIN TO CHANGE FOR THE BETTER. These 3 things have greatly impacted my life, and I know they can do the same for you. Like all of my posts, the principals I’m going to share can all be found in the bible, which I believe has within its pages “all things pertaining to life and godliness”. (2 Peter 1:3)
I promised they would be quick and easy, so lets jump right in!
- Stay Humble Towards Others
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
-Philippians 2:3-4
Humility is a theme that can be traced throughout the entire Bible. Its importance cannot be overstated. Not only does God want us to humble ourselves before Him, but He also wants us to humble ourselves before others. As the passage above says, we are told to “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves”. This passage flies straight in the face of our modern culture.
We live in a social media crazed world in which everyone is fighting for the attention and approval of others. Humility has been pushed into the background, and prideful self-centeredness has taken the center stage. Most of us nowadays are more concerned with our own image and ambitions than those of others. Whats the cure to our conceited condition? Christ is.
Philippians 2:5-8 goes on to say,
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Jesus not only came to pay the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross, but He also lived a life of perfect humility and servitude for us to learn from. The passage above says, “have this mind among yourselves, which is YOURS in Christ Jesus”. That means through our relationship with Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we have access to the same humble mind and attitude Christ had in His sacrificial ministry.
Start praying and asking God to help you:
- To not be prideful, but humble.
- To honor others above yourself.
- To serve others and care for them.
- To be a good listener and to not dominate and control conversations.
- To not let success and compliments get to your head.
- To be willing to change into the person God made you to be.
And to learn to take advice from others, which leads us into our 2nd way to start improving your life!
2. Stay Heedful Towards Advice
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.”
-Proverbs 12:15
Staying heedful towards advice is probably one of the easiest things you can start doing that will have an immediate impact on your life. The passage above teaches a simple principal. To assume you always know whats best is foolish, to listen to advice is wise. Going back to talking about our culture, asking for advice and guidance nowadays seems to be taken as a sign of weakness.
We are expected to have everything figured out on our own, and to blaze our own path in life and to not care about what others think. But what if what others think is better than what you think? What if the experience and wisdom they have to offer is better than your lack of experience and wisdom?
The fact of the matter is most of us are barely making it as we stumble through life and try to make the most of the twists and turns we face. We are in desperate need of guidance and advice. Simply put: we need help. But where should we get this help and advice? Surely all advice isn’t created equal.
As a Christian, we are to seek out counsel and guidance from the Word of God, and to humble ourselves by letting God change the way we think and act. But we also can learn a lot from others. When it comes to knowing what advice to take from someone, one word comes to mind: discernment. We have to use our discernment to figure out what is true wisdom and guidance, and to make sure it lines up with Gods Word and will for our lives.
Don’t be stubborn by assuming you can’t learn from others. Don’t be stubborn by assuming that just because someone is younger than you it must mean they don’t have wisdom to share. Don’t be stubborn by assuming its a sign of weakness to seek advice and guidance. Being heedful of advice is not a sign of weakness, its biblical and a sign of strength.
And I can only speak on behalf of myself, but I love when people come to me for advice. It makes me feel good knowing someone values what I have to say and the counsel I have to offer. Seeking wisdom from others builds trust and accountability, which will make for healthy relationships and a brighter future. Which moves us into our 3rd and final way of improving your life.
3. Stay Hopeful Towards the Future
“Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times.”
-Romans 12:12
Hope encourages, it sustains, and as we read in the passage above, it brings joy. Because of this, hope is the 3rd and final way for you to improve your life. But what exactly IS hope? Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. As a Christian, our hope is rooted in Christs finished work upon the cross on our behalf and in His second coming. But these aren’t the only ways hope can be experienced.
Staying hopeful of the future can be applied to nearly every aspect of your life. Pray and ask God to open your eyes to all the different things you can be hopeful towards. Even simple things like:
- the work week ending
- spending time with friends and family
- picking up a new hobby
- reading a new book
- going on a vacation
- going back to school
- getting involved in church
- reading the entire Bible
- meeting new people
- becoming a better person
- starting a new family
- being debt free
and that’s just a short list of things to be hopeful towards! Those are all things that can happen, so why not think about them with hope and joy? Why not get excited and trust God as you wait?
But what happens when we begin to lose sight of hope? Speaking from experience, times that I’ve lost sight of hope I’ve also began to feel depressed, trapped, bored, and worthless, along with many other negative emotions. Looking back I realize the reason I lost sight of hope is because I became fixated on my present circumstances, assuming they would never change.
The truth of the matter is that we serve a God who is sovereign. He is able to change ANY circumstance we hopelessly find ourselves in. This is something I’ve learned from experience, and it’s shown me how faithful and good God always is. Everybody is looking for a hope to hold onto, but in Christ our hope holds onto us. He is the anchor for our soul, sure and steadfast, that never changes and is always holding onto us tightly.
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So those are the 3 ways to start improving your life. Stay humble towards others, stay heedful towards advice, and stay hopeful towards the future. If you begin to apply these 3 things to your life, I promise you WILL reap the benefits and joys they bring.
I’d love to hear from you and ways your life has been improved by applying these biblical principals! Comment below to share and follow my blog for updates on future posts! I hope this has shined some light!
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