What good is it for man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? —Mark 8:36
When it comes to our life, we have nothing to say about our birth and little say about our death, but in between these two events most of the decisions are ours to be made. Are you letting life and circumstances control you, or are you controlling your own life and destiny with God's help. Don't let life pass you by when you have the God-given ability to make things happen. I've heard it said:
You can't control the length of your life, but you can control its use.
You can't control your facial appearance, but you can control its expression.
You can't control the weather, but you can control the moral atmosphere that surrounds you.
You can't control the distance of your head above the ground, but you can control the height of the contents in your head.
You can't control the other fellow's annoying faults, but you can see to it that you do not develop similar faults.
Why worry about things you cannot control? Get busy controlling the things that depend on you.
GOING DEEPER:
- What is your answer to the question put forth in Mark 8:36?
- Be honest with yourself and God. Have you been striving for the things of this world, or have you been striving after God? Who or what is in control of your life?
FURTHER READING: Romans 6:15-18 - Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.
4 comments:
I say most of the time it is a battle. I can say for sure that age has help me get a much better perspective on this but the struggle is still there. TRM's that verse you sited on Friday is haunting me from 2 Cor 10:5 - ...and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Chew on that awhile fellas
Blessings,
cas
My prayer this morning is to make solid decisions in my thoughts and actions...
Nice consistency in the theme of surrendering our desires and ambitions to Christ...CAS, I thought the same thing again about 2 Corinthians 10:5...
By the way, I'm being controlled by sports right now!! I'm such a junkie! Please pray that I get control...My daughter pleaded with me and her brother to ease up on the sports obsession this weekend...Phillies, NFL, College Football, so I wrestled with the 9 year old during the Eagles game with the sound turned down until she kicked me in the face.
the concept of control is an area that i need to improve. i try and control everything. i really struggle when i am not in control - ie flying. i dont know why - maybe it is fear of the negative outcome. which then you could say is a lack of faith.
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