Day 2361 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.


Ecclesiastes 3:12 NIV

This one really hit me this weekend. Back in 2018 I decided to make some changes and start taking better care of myself. So I started working out, lifting weights, and eating better. And one of the people that I have learned the most from suddenly passed away Sunday. John Meadows helped me learn so many things about not only exercise and diet, but also about being a good person, helping others, and living a life that's full of joy no matter what's going on. I've read so many posts from the people that he had coached and connected with and they all have nothing but good things to say. Pretty clear that he made a massive impact in so many lives, mine included!

And I've been thinking about that a lot the past couple of days. The way we live sends a message. The way we treat others, the things we say, the things that we're passionate about really do have an impact. Each of us have the chance to lift others up. We can encourage people to grow, improve, and move closer to Christ. We can choose to be happy no matter what we're facing so that others can see that life doesn't have to bring you down. But so much of the time we're walking around angry and upset. We're busy playing the victim to life instead of choosing to stay above the trials we face. And unfortunately that sends a message too.

While we're busy settling for being grumpy and seeing the bad in life we're only missing opportunities to do something better. We can become so pessimistic that we lose the ability to find the good things in life. We lose the ability to smile, to laugh, to care about others. We just see the bad and start thinking that's all there is. Complaining and being miserable is a an all too common way of life anymore. Why live like that? Why spend these lives being so gloomy and downtrodden? Why allow the negative things that we face to have the power to squeeze all joy and happiness out of us? Is that honestly what anyone wants?

The simple fact is that we don't have forever. I know it may not seem like it, and nobody likes to think about that, but our time here has an expiration date. And nobody knows when that is. We should aim to live our lives doing as much good as we possibly can. We should set our focus on being happy and finding the good in life so that we can encourage others to do the same. We should set our minds to doing whatever God put us here to do because there is a reason and it will make a difference. We really do have a chance to live meaningful lives by joyfully serving Christ and living to make Him known. But walking around angry and upset over petty little things only makes that job harder to do.

No, life will never be perfect. We will all face trying times and go through some pretty hard days. But allowing those temporary rough spots to convince us that life is horrible and that we have nothing to be happy about is a truly sad way to go. It only blinds us to all of the blessings that God has given us. It only keeps us from seeing the good that is all around us. It only locks us inside these little prisons where our hope fades a little more every single day until we're left with nothing but this miserable outlook that will ruin any chance of making a positive impact for those around us.

Friends, God gives us the chance to make a difference. We can do that by choosing to seek joy no matter our circumstances. We can do it by working at whatever He gives us to do with as much excitement and happiness as we possibly can. We can encourage those around us while so many are trying to pull them down. We can lift others up when the weight of life has started crushing them. We can point others to Christ and His infinite goodness rather than the nonsense around us. We can choose to do good because so much good has been done for us. But we have to stop squandering those opportunities by only seeing the bad and living like nothing matters.

As this verse is reminding us, being happy and doing good while we're here is a gift. It's the chance to see all the blessings we've been given and help those around us realize the same is true for them. Don't spend one day being angry about something that doesn't matter. There will always be both good and bad in life. It's 100% up to us which we decide to focus on. Just know that only seeing the bad will pull us away from all the good. And focusing on the good will help the bad not seem all that big after all. So yeah, being happy and doing good really is the only way to go!

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