Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:00 — 4.1MB)
PROGRAM D-7168
What lessons has life taught you? We often comment on how you just have to live through “stuff” to learn some important lessons. Sadly, however, too often we don’t really learn those lessons as we should.
Life Lesson No. 5: Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
You know, I often remind myself that people aren’t thinking about me nearly as much as I think they’re thinking about me! Isn’t it true that we often put ourselves under unnecessary stress by just taking ourselves too seriously! We worry about what others will think of us and that can become an obsession. What others think about you is not your business, so let it go!
Here’s the secret: Make it your passion to care very much about what God thinks about you. Pray daily that God will grow you into the mature Christian he wants you to be. Let God’s Word reveal areas in your life that need changing, and then by God’s grace, work on them. Care very much about what God thinks about you.
But stop worrying about what others think about you. Stop imagining what they’re thinking or saying. First of all, you’ll never please everyone, no matter how hard you try. And secondly, have you ever thought about how wrong it is to care more about what other people think of you than you do about what God thinks about you? Remember, it’s not all about you; it’s all about God and what he wants to do with your life. So, don’t take yourself so seriously.
Life Lesson No. 6: Make every day a special occasion: burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the new shoes.
How many things do you have tucked away, saving them for a special occasion? I was doing some cleaning recently and found some beautiful soap someone had given me, probably two or three years ago, and I had put it away for a “special occasion,” and now it was so old and hard that it isn’t really useful. I think my mother taught me to “save things for special occasions.” She was raised during the depression, and when she got something nice, she just had a tendency to squirrel it away rather than use it and enjoy it.
You’ve heard people say, “Life’s short; eat dessert first.” Well, life is short, and while we need to be frugal and saving, we also need to celebrate life and enjoy the good things God has given us. We need to make our everyday lives special, and teach this to our children as well. Paul wrote to Timothy: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”
So, make today special. Tomorrow is not promised to us, so enjoy today.