by Joel Osteen
If you want to live your best life now, you must make sure that you keep your heart of compassion open. We need to be willing to be interrupted and inconvenienced if it means we can help meet our children’s needs. Sometimes if we would just take the time to listen to our child, we could help initiate a healing process in his or her life. If you can open your heart of compassion—without judging or condemning—and simply have an ear to listen, you have the opportunity to make a difference in your child’s life.
Learn to follow the flow of God’s divine love. Don’t ignore it. Act on it. Your child needs what you have.
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CONSIDER GOD’S WORD IN THE LIGHT OF MOTHERHOOD
If anyone . . . sees his brother and fellow believer in need, yet closes his heart of compassion against him, how can the love of God live and remain in him?
1 JOHN 3:17 AMP
THE SUPREME HAPPINESS OF LIFE IS THE CONVICTION THAT WE ARE LOVED; LOVED FOR OURSELVES.
—VICTOR HUGO
WHOEVER SOWS SPARINGLY WILL ALSO REAP SPARINGLY, AND WHOEVER SOWS GENEROUSLY WILL ALSO REAP GENEROUSLY. EACH MAN SHOULD GIVE WHAT HE HAS DECIDED IN HIS HEART TO GIVE, NOT RELUCTANTLY OR UNDER COMPULSION, FOR GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER.
—2 CORINTHIANS 9:6–7
God Loves A CHEERFUL GIVER
DON’T LET ANYBODY CONVINCE YOU that it doesn’t make any difference whether you give. In the Bible, a Roman named Cornelius and his family became the first recorded Gentile household to experience salvation after the resurrection of Jesus. Why was Cornelius chosen for this honor? Cornelius was told in a vision: “Your prayers and charities have not gone unnoticed by God!” (Acts 10:4 TLB). I’m not suggesting that you can buy miracles or that you have to pay God to meet your needs. But I am saying that God sees your gifts and acts of kindness. It pleases God when you give, and He will pour out His favor on you.
All through the Bible, we find the principle of sowing and reaping. “Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7 NKJV). Just as a farmer must plant some seed if he hopes to reap a harvest, we, too, must plant some good seed in the fields of our families, careers, and personal relationships. If you want to reap happiness, you have to sow some “happiness” seeds by making others happy. If you want to reap financial blessing, you must sow financial seeds in the lives of others. The seed always has to lead.
In the midst of a great famine in the land of Canaan, Isaac did something that people without insight may have thought rather odd. He sowed seed and then reaped a hundredfold crop, because the Lord blessed him (Genesis 26:12). In his time of need, Isaac didn’t wait around, expecting someone else to come to his rescue. No, he acted in faith, and God supernaturally multiplied that seed.
God is keeping a record of every good deed you’ve ever done, including ones within your family. You may think it went unnoticed, but God saw it. And in your time of need, He will make sure that somebody is there to help you. Your generous gifts will come back to you. God has seen every smile you’ve ever given to a hurting child. He’s observed every time you went out of the way to lend a helping hand. God has witnessed when you have given sacrificially, even giving money to others that perhaps you needed desperately for yourself or your family. God has promised that your generous gifts will come back to you (see Luke 6:38). When you are generous to others, God will always be generous with you.
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CONSIDER GOD’S WORD IN THE LIGHT OF MOTHERHOOD
A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
PROVERBS 11:25
CHOOSE to Be Happy
LEARN TO LIVE ONE DAY AT A TIME. BY AN ACT OF YOUR WILL, CHOOSE TO START ENJOYING YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW. ENJOY EVERYTHING IN YOUR LIFE.
A MOTHER LAUGHS OUR LAUGHS, SHEDS OUR TEARS, RETURNS OUR LOVE, FEARS OUR FEARS. SHE LIVES OUR JOYS, CARES OUR CARES, AND ALL OUR HOPES AND DREAMS SHE SHARES.
—JULIA SUMMERS
Happiness IS YOUR CHOICE
THE APOSTLE PAUL WROTE MORE THAN HALF of the New Testament while incarcerated, often in prison cells not much bigger than a small bathroom. Yet Paul wrote such amazing faith-filled words as, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13 NKJV). And, “Thanks be to God, who always causes us to triumph,” and “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4 NKJV). Notice that we are to rejoice and be happy at all times. In your difficulties, when things aren’t going well with your children, make a decision to stay full of joy.
You need to understand that the enemy is not really after your dreams, your health, or your finances. He’s not primarily after your family. He’s after your joy. The Bible says that “the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10 NKJV), and your enemy knows if he can deceive you into living down in the dumps and depressed, then you are not going to have the necessary strength—physically, emotionally, or spiritually—to withstand his attacks.
It is a simple yet profound truth: Happiness is a choice. You don’t have to wait for everything to be perfect in your family. You don’t have to forgo happiness until you lose weight, break an unhealthy habit, or accomplish all your goals. The seventh step to enjoying your best life now is to choose to be happy today.
You might as well choose to be happy and enjoy your life! When you do that, not only will you feel better, but your faith will cause God to show up and work wonders. To do so, you must learn to live one day at a time; better yet, make the most of this moment. It’s good to set goals and make plans, but if you’re always living in the future, you’re never really enjoying the present in the way God wants us to.
We need to understand that God gives us the grace to live today. He has not yet given us tomorrow’s grace, and we should not worry about it. By an act of your will, choose to start enjoying your life right now. Learn how to smile and laugh. Quit being so uptight and stressed out. Enjoy your family, friends, and health; enjoy everything in your life. Happiness is a decision you make, not an emotion you feel. Happiness is your choice.
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CONSIDER GOD’S WORD IN THE LIGHT OF MOTHERHOOD
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
PROVERBS 17:22
IT ISN’T THE BIG PLEASURES THAT COUNT THE MOST; IT IS MAKING A GREAT DEAL OUT OF THE LITTLE ONES.
—UNKNOWN
WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN’T LOOKING, I HEARD YOU SAY A PRAYER, AND I BELIEVED THERE IS A GOD I COULD ALWAYS TALK TO. . . . WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN’T LOOKING, I SAW THAT YOU CARED, AND I WANTED TO BE EVERYTHING THAT I COULD BE.
—MARY RITA SCHILKE KORZAN
BE A PERSON OF Excellence AND Integrity
FOR MANY MOMS, MEDIOCRITY IS THE NORM; they want to do as little as they possibly can and still get by. But God did not create us to be mediocre. He doesn’t want us to just barely get by. God has called us to be people of excellence and integrity, people of honor, people who are trustworthy. Indeed, the only way to be truly happy is to live with excellence and integrity. Any hint of compromise will taint our greatest victories or our grandest achievements.
A person of excellence goes the extra mile to do what’s right. A person of integrity is open and honest and true to her word. She doesn’t have any hidden agendas or ulterior motives. People of excellence give their employers a full day’s work; they don’t come in late, leave early, or call in sick when they are not. When you have an excellent spirit, it shows up in the quality of your housework, and the attitude with which you do it. People of integrity are the same in private as they are in public. They do what’s right whether anybody is watching or not.
If you don’t have integrity, you will never reach your highest potential. Integrity is the foundation on which a truly successful life is built. Every time you compromise, every time you are less than honest, you are causing a slight crack in the foundation. If you continue compromising, that foundation will never be able t
o hold what God wants to build. You’ll never have lasting prosperity if you don’t first have integrity. You may enjoy some temporary success, but you’ll never see the fullness of God’s favor if you don’t take the high road and make the more excellent choices. On the other hand, God’s blessings will overtake us if we settle for nothing less than living with integrity.
God’s people are people of excellence. Remember: You represent Almighty God. How you live, how you care for your children and do your work, is all a reflection on our God. If you want to live your best life now, start aiming for excellence in everything you do. Whatever we do, we should give our best effort and do it as if we were doing it for God. If we’ll work with that standard in mind, God promises to reward us, and others will be attracted to our God.
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CONSIDER GOD’S WORD IN THE LIGHT OF MOTHERHOOD
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”
LUKE 16:10
THE FUTURE DESTINY OF A CHILD IS ALWAYS THE WORK OF A MOTHER.
—NAPOLEON
A MOTHER IS THE TRUEST FRIEND WE HAVE, WHEN TRIALS HEAVY AND SUDDEN, FALL UPON US; WHEN ADVERSITY TAKES THE PLACE OF PROSPERITY; WHEN FRIENDS WHO REJOICE WITH US IN OUR SUNSHINE DESERT US; WHEN TROUBLE THICKENS AROUND US, STILL WILL SHE CLING TO US, AND ENDEAVOR BY HER KIND PRECEPTS AND COUNSELS TO DISSIPATE THE CLOUDS OF DARKNESS, AND CAUSE PEACE TO RETURN TO OUR HEARTS.
—WASHINGTON IRVING
YOUR Best Life NOW
GOD’S MOMS SHOULD BE THE HAPPIEST MOMS ON EARTH! So happy, in fact, that other people notice. Living your best life now is living with enthusiasm and being excited about the life God has given you. It is believing for more good things in the days ahead, but it is also living in the moment and enjoying it to the hilt!
Let’s not be naïve. The pressures, tensions, and stress of modern life constantly threaten to take a toll on our enthusiasm. You probably know some people who have lost their passion and zest for life. One of the main reasons we lose our enthusiasm in life is because we start to take for granted what God has done for us. We get accustomed to His goodness; it becomes routine.
Don’t take for granted the greatest gift of all that God has given you—Himself! Don’t allow your relationship with Him to become stale or your appreciation for His goodness to become common. We need to stir ourselves up, to replenish our supply of God’s good gifts on a daily basis. Our lives need to be inspired, infused, filled afresh with His goodness every day.
Don’t just go through the motions in life. Make a decision that you are not going to live another day without the joy of the Lord in your life; without love, peace, and passion; without being excited about your life. And understand that you don’t have to have something extraordinary happening in your life to be excited. You may not have the perfect children or the perfect marriage or live in the perfect home, but you can still choose to live each day aglow with God’s presence.
If you want to see God’s favor, do everything with your whole heart. Do it with passion and some fire. Not only will you feel better, but that fire will spread, and soon other people will want what you have. Wherever you are in life, make the most of it and be the best you can be.
Raise your level of expectancy. It’s our faith that activates the power of God. Let’s quit limiting Him with our small-minded thinking and start believing Him for bigger and better things. God will take you places you’ve never dreamed of, and you will be having your best life now.
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CONSIDER GOD’S WORD IN THE LIGHT OF MOTHERHOOD
Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord.
ROMANS 12:11 AMP
JOY IS A NET OF LOVE BY WHICH YOU CAN CATCH SOULS.
—MOTHER TERESA
GLUE