Happiness comes from being who you actually are instead of who you think you are supposed to be.
When we get lazy and stop investigating the facts behind our opinions, we’re prone to taking on the views of whoever we like reading or listening to at the time.
Unless we get to know our neighbors beyond their labels, we cannot make the most of our spiritual conversations with them.
As long as we stay in the dark about how we see the world and the wounds and beliefs that have shaped who we are, we’re prisoners of our history. We’ll continue going through life on autopilot doing things that hurt and confuse ourselves and everyone around us.
We are often pursuing the renewal of our circumstances, but God is pursuing the renewal of our entire identity.
When our personalities are on autopilot they lull us into a half-sleeping state in which we find ourselves trapped in the same habitual, repetitious patterns of mindless reactivity we’ve been caught up in since childhood.
One cannot change another person, though the temptation to try is always there. Change must come from within the self, for one’s own reasons. Differentiation in the other may be stimulated by one’s own efforts to differentiate a self, but the other cannot be encouraged, prodded, or advised in this respect. The impetus must come solely from within the self.
All of us would like to believe that we could accomplish one brave, selfless act for God and for His kingdom. But it takes greater courage to faithfully accomplish the daily, thankless tasks of everyday life for Him—being a father to our children, a good husband to our wives, building His temple one laborious block at a time.”
I don’t think I’m really listening unless I’m willing to be changed by the other person.
When you are connected with God and other people in life, you have a healthy soul.