Words to live by…

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4: 8-9

words vs actions

I’ve been wrestling a lot lately with the words I say and the actions I do.
Do they add up? Do they glorify God? What can I change in myself to bring about that glory?
What do my children see, do they hear kind words and see kindness in me, towards them and others?

A few months back I posted about perceptual personality.
The biggest takeaway I learned from this reflection was the fact that I tend to overpack my life.
In doing so I don’t have the time to process my emotions.

My words are the words of a person whose life is too full.
My actions are the actions of someone whose been sleep deprived for a decade.
Who isn’t taking the time to fill their cup and yet takes time to ensure the cup of others has fresh water.

Radical love requires radical change. And that is where I am.

PrACTice

I always tell our kid’s practice makes perfect. The only way to get better at something is to do it on repeat until it becomes natural to you. If it isn’t becoming natural, maybe it’s not our gift.

Philippians 4:8-9 was a verse I intended to work on this year.
Instead, I instantly filled life with just enough to put it on the back burner.
The Lord says whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, whatever you have seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Red flag, when you don’t feel the peace of the Lord within you, maybe I’m missing something.
I’ve been asleep in my actions. In recognizing this, I am making big life changes, and waking up.

Because of this, I am able to learn, receive, hear, and see the Lord at work better.
I myself am listening to the words I often tell my children.
I’m practicing becoming who the Lord intended me to be.

Finding myself less distracted.
Working on digging deeper into emotions I’ve never let myself wrestle with.

Live Intentionally… ACT

Whatever is True…Speak Truth only. To oneself, to others.
Little white lies are wily. They can happen by accident and spiral out of control.
I am working with our children on what these can look like. It can be as simple as saying you didn’t do something when even in a roundabout way you may have done the very thing you didn’t intend to do.

Whatever is noble… Am I living in a way that shows whose I am? By living in the world but not of it.
Am I speaking to my friends and family in love?
Am I treating others as I’d want to be treated?
Am I teaching my children how to have noble character (lately it doesn’t feel that way, Lord help me.)

Whatever is right… Right and wrong are pretty simple when it comes down to it. Black and white do exist.
Grey is Grey no matter what way you try to spin it. If you find yourself in a grey situation, walk away.

Whatever is pure… what am I putting in front of me?
Music I listen to, shows and books read. This one is hard.
There are a lot of awesome shows out there.
All of them with skewed morals. Entertainment is just that, to entertain.
Checking my heart, headspace, and time spent with the Lord, before I choose to watch something…
This is a place I am starting to operate from.

Whatever is lovely… Not everything in life is going to be lovely. Separating oneself from the not-so-lovely things is hard, and sometimes downright impossible but necessary to grow closer to God.
In this season I’ve had to let go of some things that have brought the opposite of love. Things that have brought anxiety, things that have not served my family first. Letting these things go, is bringing lovely back into our lives.

Whatever is admirable… I can only hope to live this life admirably.
When things in this life take me off course from living such a way, I vow to say goodbye to those things.

Practice is only practice if we are taking action to make a change, act on it.
Practice cannot be accomplished from a passive state of mind.

I chose Philippians 4: 8- 9 because these words require us to be constantly at work.
If we are constantly at work, we are connected with the Lord our God as we can not do any of the above on our own. However, this is one small part of walking with the Lord.
We are called to live by his words, the whole lot of them. So here are a few other verses to think about.

Words to live by… The Word of God.

Your word is a lamp for my feet, and a light on my path.

Psalm 119:105

How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word.

Psalm 119:9

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

James 1:21

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

John 15:7

Orange Bolded words lead elsewhere.