What a week… I am so tired, I’ve had so many cups of coffee just to try and feel human today. ☕

I wanted to talk about personal development – there are a lot of things in life that we simply can’t control or don’t have a say in. I think the sooner we accept who we are (who Jesus Christ made us to be) we have a chance to actually be happy.

Its great to improve your self, we workout, gain skills, work on interpersonal skills but I think the hardest but more worthwhile endeavor is to improve your character – that is very hard. To actually be a more dependable, honest, moral version of yourself – lets face it – the human condition just wants to be sketchy.

There are people out there, partying, sleeping around, having a generally hedonistic lifestyle. There are some people who join cults, study witchcraft, seek taboo pleasures. And for some others its completely about themselves, satisfying their lusts, their ego, you know “Do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the law“.

And from an outsiders perspective – it may seem like those people have it made, but I’m here to say that isn’t true. I’ve done some of those things, I’ve gone on my own path, and you can do that, but it will never really satisfy you. You have to do more, just to get the same amount of pleasure out of it with diminished returns. Why do so many celebrities that have all those things, constantly commit suicide? They do so mostly because they don’t have God, and without God – you really don’t have anything.

I’ve found satisfaction in helping others, and doing God’s will for my life. I’m saying this because it might save you a lot of pain. We shouldn’t lie to other people but most of all, we shouldn’t lie to ourselves. A Christian can’t have the same recurring sin in their lives and not stop doing it.

Yes – Jesus forgives us, we can be sorry that we did it but If we cycle over that problem again and again, then where is the victory in our life? We have not fully submitted our lives to Jesus if we don’t break that behavior, whatever it might be.

It hard to stop doing something that we might enjoy, something the worst part of ourselves enjoy. But the cost of not changing is that we will miss the best blessings that God is wanting to give us – because we are not ready for it.

Imagine for a moment, that you embraced everything that God wanted you to be, and rejected everything that he doesn’t – your whole life changes. Yeah – bad things still happen, we experience loss. But when God leads your life – there is no better driver, no better navigator than the most high. I think one of my problems is getting accustomed to a routine and not really looking for what he has for us. I want to be the best version of me that is possible, and that is only possible if God is front and center in our lives.

I’ve made so many mistakes, so many sins, but I’m not wanting to repeat that, you can fool other people – you can fool me, but you can’t fool God – he knows exactly what is in your heart and who you really are. He knows if we are being serious about change or if its just lip service.

There are at least 3 levels of culpability we will be judged on, how we treat other people, how obedient we are to God, and what is in our hearts.

I think I’ve done not too bad on the first one, but not very good on the other two… we will truly never get away with anything in our lives and will have to give an account of ourselves one day. I want to be able to say that yeah, I was sinful, I totally screwed up but I also want to say that I let God change my life – I ran toward him instead of away from him. And running towards God will always be the better version of you.

Jason