You’ve never gotten high, you say?  When is the last time you’ve self-medicated with people pleasing?  Drowned your sorrows in that bowl of ice cream with a side of potato chips?  Consumed way too much of a “good thing” in order to feel some fulfillment and then check out?  We ALL choose our own high, and when we fall, we fall hard.  We are a people in search of the next thrill.  We like the rush of excitement pulsating through our veins.  The feeling of people telling us we are important.  We crave new and pleasure.  But what happens when the high has left, and you are forced to face yourself in the mirror?  Do you like what you see, or are you empty?  Here are some ways your life can make a difference- TODAY.

Realize The Media Is Faulty At Best

Are you looking to the media as your source of fulfillment?  Do you think because you don’t have that amazing title yet, best selling book, or look great in a bikini that you don’t matter?  All of that is faulty at best.  Look deep into the soul of a person in the limelight, and you will find a person seeking emotional and mental rest.  Stop the striving for something that has a shaky foundation, full of fault lines.  Fractures in the soul, seeking to be made known, with the only inevitable crumble surmounting.  You are enough in Christ.  You matter right where you are at today. 

Be A Real Friend

I’m convinced, more than ever, people don’t want fake.  When others look at your life, they don’t want to feel like they can never measure up.  It’s okay to show the amazing things you are good at, but with that, share your honest struggles and how God helped you (or is helping you) overcome them.  People don’t want perfection, they just want genuine.

Lose The Entitlement Mentality

Have you ever imagined up a whole scenario in your head?  You have played out, quite literally, an entire play of how you should be treated, only to be left disappointed.  Who’s to blame?  The person that couldn’t read your mind and refused to be cast in your imaginary movie?  Nope…. that’s right, you- and I.  With entitlement, breeds a whole bunch of nasty discontentment.  Realize that you and I are only entitled to… well, nothing.  Find your beginning, your middle, and your end, in Christ alone.

Don’t Let Bitterness Overshadow The Blessings

Maybe life has dealt you your share of ugly.  Maybe you have every reason to be angry and hurt.  But don’t let bitterness overshadow the blessings.  The blessings are always there for the picking, we just choose to stomp on the garden and grind up the beauty underfoot with our many parties of pity.  Confess and uproot the bitter, and make room for a shower of blessing!

Think Of Others First

This life promotes “me”.  If I’m pretty enough, smart enough, wealthy enough, the most popular, or climbed to the peak of the corporate ladder, I matter.  The reality is, no matter how high we climb, the air is always thin an unpredictable up there.  We can only stay “high” for so long, before we come crashing down.  The endless striving never ceases.  Enough is never enough.  Ecclesiastes says it’s all vanity.  So put yourself aside.  Look to others.  Who’s hurting?  Who needs some encouragement?  Who could you lift up today?  Thinking of others instead of ourselves will make your life matter, and put a smile your face.

Be Concerned With Promoting God

What will others remember about your life after you are gone?  Will they remember all the awesomeness that you once were, or will they remember how you lifted up Christ and made Him known?  Will they remember how you made them feel when others rejected them?  Will they remember the way they saw Christ lifted high in every area of you life?  That’s my goal… to make Him known and lifted high!

Home Is Your First Place To Make A Difference

Home should be your first and most important place for ministry.  If you aren’t thriving in your ministry within the walls of your camp for dwelling, how can you be effective without- in your community, church, or workplace?  One of the greatest impacts we can have on our society is love lived out in the home.  A mother and a father living and dying for one another daily, as Christ did for the Church.  Parents raising up children in the ways of the Lord.  Start at home.  Thrive at home.  Without love in the home, everything else is pride on steroids. 

People Want Hope

Hope is an anchor for our soul!  Without hope, what is there?  Don’t just talk, blog, and brag about your struggles, let others know there is hope in the struggle.  That Christ is what is making a difference and causing you to rise up triumphant!  Christ has already won the victory, and He wants to be victorious in your life today!  Let Him!

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