Feb 17, 2012

Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit.

Feb 14, 2012

One Simple Step to a Lasting, Happy Relationship

If the books and articles written on how to have a long, happy marriage were gathered in one place, they could fill a library. However, if the wisdom in all those words were brought down to the simplest component, it could be summed up in a word.

But there are two problems with that word. First, we don’t understand what it means. Second, it is too expensive for most of us. We aren’t willing to pay the price.

That one word is love. We use it every day and we think we know what it means, but our understanding is drawn from our culture. True love isn’t hearts, valentines, chocolates, teddy bears, and flowers—or even diamond rings.

Neither is it the flutter of your heart when someone special comes in the room. Nor is true love the feeling of joy and fulfillment that comes when you’ve found the person of your dreams. All those things are nice, and they may be expressions of love, but they don’t define what it is.

True love is costly. When you have true love, you place the needs and desires of the other person above your own. Love lays its life down for the other person—and that doesn’t mean just in times of great danger. On a daily basis, true love is concerned about the other person, not with self.

True love:

• Is patient and kind—even when the object of its love is slow, disagreeable, or unkind.
• Is humble, seeking to build up others rather than bragging about its own deeds.
• Doesn’t insist on its own way.
• Doesn’t think bad of others.
• Is always courteous.
• Is not irritable, resentful, or self-centered.
• Does not keep track of wrongs suffered.
• Doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth.
• Is supportive in every situation.
• Believes and hopes for the best.
• Endures all things.
• Never fails. Like the Everready Bunny it keeps on keeping on, choosing others over self.

The love pictured in today’s culture is selfish, seeking self-fulfillment. True love is expensive because it asks us to die to self and put someone else first, seeking fulfillment for the other person. But the rewards are worth the sacrifice.

You want a Happy Relationship that will last into your elder years? The more you’re able to love someone with this type of love, the more love you will receive in return—leading to self-fulfillment and a long, happy relationship with the object of your love.

Feb 10, 2012

Expressing anger is a form of public littering.

Feb 03, 2012

A stone is heavy and the sand weighty, but the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them.

Feb 01, 2012

You Decide

This morning I received a forwarded email with the following anecdote:

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.

His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.

As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet curtains that had been hung on his window. ‘I love it,’ he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

“Mr. Jones, you haven’t seen the room; just wait.”

‘That doesn’t have anything to do with it,’ he replied. “It is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged but how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.”

Mr. Jones is right. And it works with people just as with rooms and body aches. If we decide in the morning to be grateful for the people that God puts in our lives—no matter how much we approve of some things they do—we will find it much easier to live with them in peace and joy. We don’t have to let others determine the quality of our day or the tone of our disposition.

Jan 27, 2012

Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

Jan 20, 2012

Let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil, or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead.