Grief Bites: Finding Treasure In HardshipsSample

Majority of losses (excluding natural disasters, timely deaths, etc) have a very common root: someone failed to love, value, & honor God, another person, or their self...or they failed to honor & value their life purpose, their character, or time. God instructs us many times in His Word to treat Him, our families, and others with great value. We are told to love extravagantly, to treat others how we want to be treated, and to be peacemakers. Think how much better off life...and the world...would be if everyone followed the two greatest commandments God gave us: love God and love others. It's difficult to love, value, and honor others when they mistreat us...especially those closest to us such as a spouse, family member, close friend, boss/co-worker, or fellow Christian. We can't control how others act but we can certainly choose to honor these two commands to the best of our ability starting today. Ask God to help you to live a life of love, value, & honor for Him and others right now...ask Him to help you to greatly value character and time. We always think we have so much more time than what we truly have or we think we have time to make things right...but the truth is, we may not. How do we even begin to love, value, and honor God, others, our time, character, or ourselves? Apart from God, we cannot be successful. As we draw close to Him, He fills us with the ability to do all things. It's a good idea to ask God to bless us with His character and the fruits of His Spirit. As we learn and apply the fruits of the Spirit in our relationships, we are empowered to obey God's greatest commands of loving Him and loving others. It can be difficult, but as we choose to take on the character qualities of Christ, it becomes much easier as time goes by. Love, character, and the fruits of the Spirit all need to be strengthened every day so it will be strong. Ask God to reveal to your heart effective ways to show love, honor, and value to those He has placed in your life. Ask Him for an extra measure of His grace to be loving and honorable in all you do. On days where it seems impossible, remind yourself of this truth: by loving, honoring, and valuing others, time, and ourselves, we ultimately are loving and bringing great honor to God.