June 5, 2014
Heal Today
When love and forgiveness replace blame, we will have begun construction on a new and better world.
Today it seems like people are trying to find someone to blame for the mess their life is in. However, when you replace the blame with love and forgiveness, your life will begin to change for the better. You may still have some issues to deal with, but your heart and mind will be clean. You want peace in your life? You want to have good rest each night? Then begin to love and forgive others right now. Stop blaming others for your troubles. Own your stuff. We all have made mistakes and made bad choices. We all have been hurt by others. We all have had stuff done to us that was wrong. But don’t keep replaying what happened over and over again. Use the love of God to forgive them and move past it. You may need to talk to them and make things right. You may need to talk to someone who can help you in the forgiveness process. Today is your day to begin healing. Experience the life that you were created to live. It is here for you today. You can love and forgive. You don’t have to blame others anymore. Are you ready to heal today?
May 11, 2014
Showing Some Love
I’ve heard it said that you can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving.
Love isn’t just about our words or thoughts; it’s about our actions. Love is about reaching out and meeting the needs of others. Sometimes meeting someone’s needs is as simple as a smile or sharing a word of encouragement. There are many ways to show the love of God. Can you pay for someone’s gas or groceries? Do you see a need in someone’s life that you can meet? God wants to bless you today so that you can be a blessing to others. He wants to work through you to show His love and compassion. Today and every day, look for ways to put your love into action. The Bible says that it’s His kindness that leads people to repentance. He wants to show His kindness in the earth through you. Step out and sow good seeds of love by meeting the needs of others. God promises that those seeds will produce an abundant harvest in your life in return. Are you showing the love today?
February 2, 2014
Real Love
The only way to master love is to practice love.
Love never fails. Nothing works without it, and there can be no failure with it. When you live by love, you cannot fail. It takes faith to believe that love’s way will not fail. The natural mind cannot understand that because our outward man and world are ruled by selfishness. But when you practice love by faith and refuse to seek your own, you put God into action on your behalf. As long as you stay in love, God will be able to work in you. He sees to it that you succeed. Walking in love is to your great advantage! Agape love is a new kind of power. It makes you master of every situation. No weapon that is formed against you will prosper. No one even has the power to hurt your feelings because you are not ruled by feelings but by God’s love. You are loving as He loves. This love is revolutionary. If we fully understood the great return from living God’s love, we’d probably be competing with each other, each of us trying to love the other more. And without a doubt, everyone would emerge from that competition a winner! For love is truly the only sure secret to our success. Are you walking and living in God’s love today?
January 19, 2014
Love in the Lead
Love leads us to serve, to forgive, and to hope.
Love is others minded at all times. When we are living with love as our decision making director we will make good decisions. Love in its truest form will lead you to serve others. We will put others first in our thinking. We will consider their needs and find ways to serve them. One of the greatest gifts that love offers us is forgiveness. When you love with conditions then you will live a lifestyle of forgiveness. Forgiving others is more for you than it is them, but requires love to carry it through. Hope is one of the strongest aspects of love. Hope can keep you going through the darkest of times. Hope gets its strength from love. I have been at the point in my life when hope was all that was keeping me alive. Undying love will enable hope to do miraculous things. Love should be at the center of our life. Nothing should ever be done without love being the reason. Are you allowing love to lead you today?
January 18, 2014
Infinite Love
You are loved, and your purpose is to love. From a mind filled with infinite love comes the power to create infinite possibilities.
When you see others through the eyes of love, of infinite, non-ending love there are no ends to the possibilities. We are to love one another without end. There are boundaries, but boundaries aren’t limits. Take the limits off of your love for yourself and others. If you want to see what all God has in store for your life; then love without end. If you are wondering what your purpose in life is? Love others unconditionally. Love without end. Infinite love will open new doors of possibility to you. See your life go to a higher and new level when you take the restrictions and conditions off of your love for others. Like I said, there are boundaries and appropriateness but no conditions. Let go of the hurts, disappointments and restrictive mindsets right now! Let God love through you today! Are you ready for infinite possibilities in your life today?
January 17, 2014
Grow in Love
By showing unconditional love to yourself and others, you gain dominion over your fear based thoughts.
There seems to be a problem with people having unconditional love for themselves or for others. When we have fear, not necessarily being frightened, but having fear of what others will do to us. This fear is especially present when it comes to loving. We all have been hurt and have hurt others. For some it seems to be a vicious cycle. They are stuck in a love rut. When fear is present in our life there can be no unconditional love. When there is unconditional love present then there will be no fear. Will you be hurt again? Yeah, more than likely. However, the love that is present will enable you to move right on past the hurt. Forgiveness will be quick and complete, eliminating the pain. Remove the conditions from your love to yourself and others today. Begin to see others through the eyes of love. See them the way they could be, if only people had shown them unconditional love. Begin to see yourself through the same clear filters. Love yourself and then you will begin to love others too. Unconditional love maybe not start out easy but I guarantee you it will get easier as you grow in it. Love is contagious. Be a carrier of the unconditional love virus today you will never be the same. Are you growing in love today?
December 28, 2013
Land of Love
Shame, blame, disrespect, betrayal, and the withholding of affection damage the roots from which love grows.
I am guilty of all of the above in my life. I have damaged relationships on all levels. You may have done the same things to people in your life too. Don’t let it stop you from loving. Whether you or on the damaged side or the damaging side you can’t stop loving. The damage can be repaired, it can be fixed. If you want to repair the damage that has been done; we have to start with forgiveness. Forgive yourself and others involved. Don’t hold back your forgiveness no matter what has been done. Forgive quickly and completely. Never hold what has been done against yourself or anyone else. We all have issues and insecurities that cause us to act in ways that hurt ourselves and others. Just because someone has hurt you doesn’t mean you have the right to hurt others, included the ones that hurt you. Everyone has been hurt and everyone has hurt someone. Hurt comes in life, but that doesn’t mean we have to be bitter, mad, and angry at others. Learn to forgive, learn to move past the hurt. Don’t pitch your tent in that place of hurt. Keep moving forward to the land of love. If you are in that hurting place today, then move out before this year ends. Life is far too short and long to stay there another moment. Are you ready to make life changing moves in your life today?
December 6, 2013
He Loves You
The Bible tells us that God is love.
He is perfect, and His love is perfect. There is nothing you can do to make God love you more and nothing you can do to make Him love you any less. His love toward you is constant; it’s unchanging. His arms are always stretched out toward you, and He is always ready for you to come to Him. Sometimes people aren’t sure how God feels about them. They think He might be mad at them, but scripture tells us just the opposite. God’s not mad at you; He’s madly in love with you! It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or where you’ve come from, God’s arms are open to you. He always wants to show you His goodness and grace. Let His love drive fear out of your life and make you new. Let His love wash over you and build confidence in you. Because of His great love, we can boldly come to Him and receive the mercy and blessings He has in store. Do you really know that God loves you?
September 5, 2013
Tough Love
I have seen teams fall apart when the going gets tough, but with tough love I see teams grow stronger.
I believe in tough love. If you are a leader, manager, coach, teacher or parent, caring about someone often requires you to challenge and push them to improve, grow and reach their full potential. Even the best athletes in the world have a coach to push them. But for tough love to work, love must come first. We must love tough to bring out the best in those we lead! If people know you care about them they will be more receptive to you pushing them. On the other hand if you put tough before love you’re more likely to face resistance. As Andy Stanley says, “Rules without relationship leads to rebellion.” The old dictator tough, without love, style of leadership no longer works. Having spent time with a number of high school and college sports teams it’s clear that even athletes who seem to have it all want to know that their coach cares about them. The best coaches love their players and their players know it and play harder and are more loyal to that coach. The same is true for education and business. Research shows that test scores go up when students have a relationship with their teacher. Numerous engagement surveys show that people are more engaged at work when they know their manager / boss cares about them. So keep pushing your people to be their best. If you are parent like me, keep pushing your kids to reach their full potential. Your team needs your toughness to grow! But remember to put love first. Make relationships a priority. Your love will create the right conditions for growth to happen! Are you showing tough love today?
August 11, 2013
Success Love
Expecting success creates positive results and gives you the confidence to go out and do just that.
Success in this life isn’t necessarily about how popular, influential or educated someone is. Success is about living a life of excellence. When we step out to do what God has called us to do, His love surrounds us like a shield. When we have His love, we have everything, and we have an advantage for success! God’s love opens the right doors. His love will bring good breaks. The love of God will cause you to accomplish what you could not accomplish on your own. It gives you an edge. Now, if you’re going to see the gracious hand of God at work in your life, you can’t go through the day feeling intimidated, thinking that you’re average, looking around and comparing yourself to everyone else. No, you have to live like you have His love, think like you have love, talk like you have love, walk like you have love, dress like you have love! Not arrogantly. Not in a way that portrays that you’re better than somebody else, but with a quiet confidence knowing that you have the awesome hand of God on your life! Live like you’ve got it because you do. Are you expecting success in your life due to God’s love?