The Paradoxical Commandments

1. The version found written on the wall in Mother Teresa's home for children in Calcutta:

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

-this version is credited to Mother Teresa

____________________________

2. The Original Version:

The Paradoxical Commandments

by Dr. Kent M. Keith

1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
3. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
6. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.
7. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
9. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.
10. Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

© 1968, 2001 Kent M. Keith

"The Paradoxical Commandments" were written by Kent M. Keith in 1968 as part of a booklet for student leaders.

Running.

Running, past him, past her, past it, past the world, hard after Him. It is the only thing I can do right now, the only thing I want to do, the only thing I yearn to do. Spinning with my arms out, eyes to the heavens, smiling, laughing, enjoying His constant Presence. Taken to the back side of the mountain to be alone with Him, spend time with Him, get to know Him better, stumbling, falling, but clinging steadily, clutching, grabbing, reaching out, in earnest. Thought that I didn’t have much else to learn, thought I was arriving, seeing now that I am just beginning, just starting to see, long, long journey ahead of me. Getting glimpses of His beautiful glory, His Presence, His smell-one day. Falling every day more in love…with a man I have never seen, my Creator I have never met. Sweet comfort and peace amidst a storm, any storm. Have to give it time to heal, go through it, experience the raw emotions of it, let them come, don’t be afraid of them, embrace them, grab His hand and crawl through it. Reading Colossians 1 makes me tremble, long for Him. Being alone with Him, searching for His guidance, and in doing so, committing to it. Amazed everyday at His pursuit of me, so thankful for the insatiable hunger for Him that has never left me or been far from me. What is more important than Him? Can He ever be fully known? I hope not because I want to run after Him for the rest of my life on this earth.

The sweater I want for Christmas...

Love and Obedience

Not sure if anyone still reads my blog anymore...it's been awhile. Just wanted to say that so much has happened in my life this year, can't believe it's already December. I wanted to write about how much I love Jesus, yet again. I remember lying in my bed one night and praying (with fear and trembling) for God to sift me and refine me in any way He chooses in order for me to become more like His Son. This was a scary prayer to say the LEAST. Well, He has and He is. What I do know is that God allows things in our life to occur in order to let us be aware of our NEED for Him, our NEED to rely fully on Him for our needs to be met. He has been working this area out in my life through a blind faith and trust in Him-on a DAY to DAY basis, sometimes even an HOUR to HOUR basis. I would have it no other way as tough as it is at times. I know that God HAS to be of GREAT importance in our lives at all times, by this I mean thinking about Him, praying to Him, talking about Him, OBEYING Him-constantly. He is a jealous lover. He has helped me to realize that loving someone or something equals ACTION. Loving someone is not merely through words, I know someone loves me without them even having to say anything. Showing God love is through our ACTIVE obedience to Him, there is no other way. He says in His Word to love Him with ALL our heart, mind, and soul and THEN to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves (which for most of us is A LOT). It is the highest form of worship to Him, not just raising your hands, screaming and crying, and attending services (although all these things are good to do!), more so it is SHOWING our Creator that we comprehend what He has done for us through His death by obeying His commands and proving this with our lifestyles. Love truly equals action. I know and understand more and more each day how filthy and disgusting I am, I also know at the same time that I am forgiven and loved beyond my comprehension, I can't wait for the day that I get to see my beautiful Savior's Face and Eyes and Hands, there will be nothing better. Many days I see how fallen our world is and I simply do not want to be here, but I know that as long as the Lord has provided life to each individual on this earth, in this era, in the day in age, then we are ALL meant to be here for a specific purpose, and that is always to glorify His Son. I don't do everything right, I make mistakes each day, I hurt people, but I am trying to reach the goal my Savior has set before me, run this race the BEST way I can through His strength alone. I cannot tell you how PEACEFUL it is to OBEY Him even if you completely DON'T understand it, I have found that His peace that passes understanding is without a doubt the answer for TODAY-I aim to maintain it above all else, and know that when I don't have it, there is a reason. I am LOVING the adventure He has me on right now, I have never experienced so much peace and happiness amidst any storm I face than I have lately. I know that I am on the right path and I also know that if I start to go off (which I am guaranteed to do), I have a Daddy that will reach down and take me by the hand and lead me, what more could I ask for?

When You are not enough...

When You are not enough
I seek the pleasures of this world
When you are not enough
My hope is lost
When You are not enough
Joy cannot be found
When You are not enough
Please Lord, break my heart

When You are not enough
I carry all my guilt and shame
When You are not enough
I can not bear it
When You are not enough
I'd like to think I've learned by now
When You are not enough
Please Lord, Break my Heart
Please Lord, Change my heart

When You are not enough
We trade Your beauty for a lie
When You are not enough
Nothing satisfies
When You are not enough
Your joy is always out of reach
When You are not enough
Please Lord, Break My Heart
Please Lord, Change my heart

grant us mercy
grant us grace
grant wisdom
grant us faith

~Thad Cockrell, Matt Stevens
Vintage21 Church

At Your disposal...

So…let’s chat shall we (or more like I will “speak”), it’s been quite some time…Relentless, that’s what God is, I am so very thankful for that. I have learned over the past several months the magnitude to which He desires me and the way that He refuses to let me go. Hallelujah. Just when I need the reassurance that He is actually aware of my circumstances and the daily “happenings” in my life, He shows up and lets me know that Yes He IS here WITH me and Yes He does see every detail of my life and Yes He is CONCERNED to say the least. I remember praying awhile back and asking God to SIFT me, to weed out anything in my heart and in my life that didn’t bring Him glory, maybe I was just half serious, but I have now determined that He is FULLY serious about doing this. I heard in church this morning that as a Christian if your life is not encountering any opposition, then you should question if you are truly a follower of Jesus Christ, I really liked that bold statement b/c I believe we serve a very bold God. When Jesus walked the earth He encountered LOTS of opposition, so basically if you go through “hell” once in awhile or frequently, get on your knees and thank God that He is using you to glorify Himself and bring His kingdom to earth! I also went to church last night and my pastor said, “Your life is not about fulfilling your calling to glorify yourself, to make yourself known, to gain happiness, or to be successful according to the world, it is to bring the Lord Jesus Christ GLORY and Him ALONE”, loved church this weekend!!! I think one of the main things I have been learning lately is to seek God and His Face and to know Him truly and His character and who I am Him in Him :o)
http://encouragingbiblequotes.com/verses2a.html

Rasberry Morning.

I think the title is also the name of a cereal :o) So, sometimes I find it hard to actually STUDY my Bible and I find that writing blogs actually helps me to do this if they are a particular theme that I can relate to my Bible. I think it's sad that so many people miss the beautiful mornings God creates (the sky was raspberry colored at 5:45, the beautiful colors of the morning that you can take in (only) EARLY in the morning. I know it's hard to get up early, esp on days where you really have time to sleep in, or you went to bed at 3am, but God says throughout the Bible to not only seek Him w/your whole heart, but seek Him early. This morning I wanted to sleep real bad, but God wouldn't have it :o) This may sound bad, but I almost want to put God on a kind of "trial" run-He PROMISES in the Bible that if we seek Him, we WILL find Him. (Det 4:29, 1 Chron 15:2, Ps 9:10, Prov 3:6, Prov 8:17, Jer 29:13, Lam 3:25, Matt 7:7, Acts 17:27, Heb 11:6) I guess sometime I get scared that somehow I will lose my focus of Him, that I will be distracted by the things of this world and not fulfill what He has planned for me, I know He will never let me stray too far, but I don't want to spend 40 years on a mountain if I can just obey Him and trust Him and have faith. The trial run is to actually put forth serious time every single day, tyring my BEST to seek Him and find Him, giving up things that may be more appealing to my flesh-it is so hard in this world, but as much as I love God and as much as I have seen how faithful He has remained in my life, why then would I not believe in what He has promised about seeking Him, what could possibly be more imortant than Him?

http://www.learntopray.org/print_materials/messages/d2/d2-7.htm