Wednesday, January 15, 2014 -- Living In A Way That Pleases God
Wednesday January 15, 2014
God invites us to live each new day carefully, giving respectful obedience to spiritual principles. We need to remind ourselves that recovery is a lifelong process because we are in a lifelong relationship with God, our Creator, through Jesus Christ. We need to live responsibly, working and living in dependence on God at all times. We need, on a daily basis, to love and worship God and to give of ourselves to helping others. When we become complacent and forget God, we set ourselves up for a fall and return to a self-absorbed addictive lifestyle. The Bible gives us a clear picture of what God wants us to be like. Will we give ourselves to God's way with complete abandon?
Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you ... Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not Christians will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others. (1 Thessalonians 4:1, 9, 11-12 NLT)
When I look at my daily habits and practices, what do I see? God has peace and help and comfort for me as I listen to Him and read the Bible. Am I making God's pleasure the focus of my activities? Do I talk with Him about everything that is going on in my life today or do I still let the chaos of resentments and bitterness keep me on edge in my relationships with others? What about this quiet life? Is that how I would describe my thinking and emotions these days? Am I truly looking after my own well-being and guarding my heart, or am I looking around and being irritated by the actions and words of others? Am I allowing God or outside circumstances to influence the way I live right now?
Is it a challenge to live a quiet and responsible life after years of chaos and blaming others? Of course it is! Will I always feel like doing the right thing at the right time? In early recovery, hardly ever! Will I need to reign in my thoughts and feelings and make myself surrender to what is good and right and new? Yes! Yes! Yes! Over and Over again!
One of the amazing gifts of this life with God is that we gain His pleasure and the respect of others. We find ourselves free to be ourselves and to live without the co-dependent approval of others. Interestingly, when we live in the presence of God we experience deep pleasure within ourselves.
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