If someone asked you if you love your life, what would you say? It seems most people would say they don’t love their life. But as believers in Christ, we can learn to love the life we have.
I know what it’s like to have a miserable life, and how wonderful it is to live with God’s peace and joy. I remember when God spoke to my heart and told me, “You’re not happy because you’re selfish.” It wasn’t easy to hear, but facing that truth helped me surrender my will to God, so He could begin working in me and help me make the changes I needed to make.
I discovered that the key to loving my life is making God’s love the central theme of my life. God is love. It’s not just what He does, but who He is. He loves us unconditionally, and when we believe that, it changes us; it makes us confident and secure.
Knowing you are loved gives you courage and boldness to step out and try new things, so you don’t have to be stuck with a negative attitude about life in general, or in a situation you hate.
It gives you security that enables you to confront unhealthy relationships, knowing you’ll be OK—and even better than before—however things turn out.
Here’s how God’s love works in our lives: We receive His love for us, then we see ourselves the way He does and love ourselves in a healthy way, and finally, we let His love flow through us to others.
The goal is to take in the good things God offers us, and then go out in the world and give to others what He has given to us! God wants to give us His love, mercy, grace and forgiveness, and He expects those things to flow through us to the people in our world.
God created us to be loved and to love others. First John 3:11 (AMPC) says, “For this is the message (the announcement) which you have heard from the first, that we should love one another.” That’s real Christianity.
If we really get down to it, how much do we really think about what we can do for other people? I’ve learned that when I’m selfish or too focused on myself—what I want or how I can get others to do what I want them to do—I am frustrated, easily offended and upset much of the time.
In fact, if you’re having a bad day, one of the worst things you can do is to keep thinking about yourself and all of your own problems. It only makes things worse! So, what should you do? Get your mind off yourself and help someone else.
Helping others isn’t something you will normally feel like doing—it requires a decision. But making a choice to be good to others has the power to help you and them. It’s a spiritual principle.
The apostle Paul says in Acts 20:35 (NIV): “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
So, if I’m having a bad day, this Scripture tells me I can be happier by simply getting myself off my mind and helping someone else.
It’s actually amazing how just a few words of encouragement can change someone’s entire day. Sometimes it can even change their life! It can be as simple as picking up the phone and calling a friend who’s been going through a rough time, letting them know you’re thinking about them and praying for their situation. Or maybe you can send someone a text message to let them know how valuable they are and how much you care.
Think of the story of the paralyzed man whose friends tried to bring him to Jesus to be healed. When the friends were blocked by the crowds who came to hear Jesus, they actually lifted their friend and his bed up onto the roof. From the roof they were able to then lower him down through the tiles to the floor before Jesus.
The story continues as Jesus saw the man and the effort his friends took to help him, “When He saw their faith, He said to him, ‘Man, your sins are forgiven you’,” (Luke 5:20, MEV).
Would you like to make every day better? Would you like to find joy even in the midst of difficult times? Then begin taking even just a few minutes every day to think about what you can do to help someone else.
Because when you give your life away, you’ll find that it comes back to you in the most marvelous ways.
Joyce Meyer is a New York Times’ bestselling author and founder of Joyce Meyer Ministries Inc. She has authored 130 books, including Battlefield of the Mind and her newest devotional, Quiet Times With God (FaithWords). She hosts the Enjoying Everyday Life radio and TV programs, which air on hundreds of stations worldwide. For more information, visit joycemeyer.org.
