Mother Teresa once said:
Watch your thoughts because your thoughts become your words.
Watch your words because your words become your actions.
Watch your actions because your actions become your habits.
Watch your habits because your habits become your character
And your character determines your destiny.
The first time I read this I really didn’t pay too much attention to it. I just sort of ignored it to be honest, just like I ignored a lot of things around me.
I was fully aware of what words could do to a person because I experienced it firsthand myself. For every ‘good’ thing I did or accomplished I was reminded of the multitude of ‘bad’ things I had done previously, which wiped out the one ‘good’ thing.
It is in our ‘human’ nature to seek acceptance and worth. From the moment we are born we are looking for a connection that makes us feel safe and content.
As we grow we experience both good and bad things that sometimes shape how we deal with life in general. There has always been good and bad in the world because we are human and we have free will which gives us the opportunity to choose how we respond and interact with others, and how we deal with the different situations we face in life.
God gave us free will so that we could choose to accept him or go our own way. He gave us free will to question ourselves and all the things around us…He also gives us the answers, and it is up to us whether to choose to accept them or not. He gave us a set of rules as a guideline for a good life (the Ten Commandments).
But being human we tend to choose our ‘own’ way rather than God’s way and that gets us into difficult situations sometimes because we are not perfect and neither is the world we live in and ‘our way’ is not the best way in the long run.
We can choose to change…..we can choose our thoughts…..which become our words…..which changes the way we act……which become our habits…..creating our character….. which becomes our destiney..
We were created to help one another. We were created to love one another. We are not defined by our past mistakes or present ones. We are not our failures…..those are merely lessons to be learned from and not repeated. We cannot change the past, we can only change the present. We can choose to change ourselves and ask for help to do so. Jesus paid the ultimate price for all sin, so let the past go and change your future.
Choose your thoughts wisely and that will change your words, which in turn will change your actions, thus changing your habits, ultimately changing your character, creating the destiny that you were created for.
Prayer:
God, help me to choose my thoughts wisely, help me to choose words of love and encouragement, let my actions show your love and my habits your grace, making me the person you created me to be, following the path you have already prepared for me to travel down on my way home to you. In the name of Jesus, I pray your will be done. Amen
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