Surprise: You Are the One Who Shapes Your Life

You shape your life by goals you set. 

You do set goals, right?  What are those goals?  Are they financial?  Family?  Spiritual?  Entertainment?  How do you define success?  

My friend Earl Nightingale says “success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.” 

What is your worthy ideal / best possible outcome for your life?  You possibly have several goals for different aspects of your life.

The twelve step process for alcohol anonymous starts with a person must accept a higher authority.  You are not the higher authority.   As a child, your parents are the higher authority for much of your young life.  As you mature you should be schooled and accept God as your higher authority.  Life gets simpler with authority as part of your world.  A God shaped life guides and directs you for the best possible outcome.

The very first Biblical beatitude (Mt 5:3) states blessings reward those who realize their need for God.  What might the blessing be?  Focused goals that honor God and guided by God reap the rewards of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control to your life (Gal 5:23,23). 

In this world of chaos, everyone does better with help of others and higher authority.  You can go directly to God with prayer as Christ as stated when he tore the temple curtain in Mt 27:51, Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45. In this secular world, attention to wealth and status are often goals.  Be careful with these goals and include God in your life.  Do not overlook the rewards noted in the previous paragraph.  Remember you shape your life with goals as well as thoughts, attitude, choices, relationships.  These are topics for next month.  Meanwhile put God in your life.