Perspective Matters!

How Do You View Life?

Perspective is primarily about what angle you view something. Often times people say, do not look through the rear-view mirror of life at past times, instead look only out of the windshield at what is ahead. Or, is the glass half-empty or half-full. Well this all depends if you've been drinking out of the cup or if you just poured it, right? Perspective. It is important in daily life choices and observations. It plays a huge role in the way we handle things that occur in our life. It affects our thought process and our attitude about situations.

Understanding how a situation can be positive or negative truly affects the outcome of how you will react and respond to it. 

Negative Perspective: You woke up this morning an hour past your alarm. Your clothes were wrinkled and your hair was a mess. You couldn't find your keys. You didn't have time to make your coffee. You ended up having to turn around halfway to work because you realized you left the hair flat iron on. You stepped in dog poop because you ran through the grass instead of taking the side walk as you rush into work. You feel as though it has been an awful day and you let everyone you come in contact with know it. They better not mess with you today, you've already had enough.

Positive Perspective: You woke up this morning an hour past your alarm. Thank God it was only an hour and not two, right? Your clothes were wrinkled and your hair was a mess. It could be worse. You could have clothes that have holes and no shampoo to wash your hair. You couldn't find your keys. You didn't have time to make your coffee. You ended up having to turn around halfway to work because you realized you left the hair flat iron on. Maybe God was telling you to slow down, take a breath. HE saved you from a terrible car accident this morning that would have occurred if you would have left 10 min earlier. You stepped in dog poop because you ran through the grass instead of taking the side walk as you rush into work. Great excuse to buy a new pair;) You feel as though it has been an awful day and you let everyone you come in contact with know it. They better not mess with you today, you've already had enough. Never lose an opportunity to make someone else smile and show them the light of God you have in your life no matter what it is you're going through. I promise you, someone else is struggling FAR worse than you could ever imagine.

Your decisions and attitude about every situation you encounter reflects who YOU are.

Never look at the bad-side of things. If you find yourself taking the wrong approach or looking at the wrong perspective of things, fix your mistakes. Find the absolute best in even the worst of situations. Those are the people that have the most happiness. Quit staring at yourself in the mirror HOPING things will get better. Find happiness in the imperfections of life. Find peace in knowing YOUR Savior has already determined every step you will take today and He is not going to fail you. He wants you to trust him and let Him guide you. Slow down, take a deep breath. The Lord is reaching His hand out to you at the end of the tunnel, or is it the beginning of the tunnel and you went in backwards? Perspective. 

Look at life with an innocent mind, loving heart, forgiving attitude, and happy spirit. 

Shine God's light through you so that others may see His beautiful works in you. 

Never lose an opportunity to see the bright side of every situation, bad or good.

Be A Life Changer

Open Your Eyes to the Things Unseen

In a world full of trouble, hatred, pain, and suffering, only those who choose to find the good in life will. Everyone has a story that reflects directly who they are as a person, something that defines them. You may carry baggage because of what someone did to you in the past, but why? The problem with people in today's society is they believe the world owes them something. They believe the people that have wronged them should be punished and they live their life holding a grudge until they get some sort of apology. Luke 6:42 states this:

"How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

Meaning to me: Do not judge others for the things they may have done wrong or for the things they do not do in the same manner as you. Open your own eyes to see the things YOU have done wrong in your life because you would not want to be placed on a pedestal in front of the world while someone calls out all of your own sins. If you are going to judge someone, can't you see that you yourself have problems of your own that you need to work out? When you clearly remove your own burdens, you will then realize that those things you thought the other person were at fault for will seem harmless and worthless because you will now be at rest, and you will have peace, forgiveness, and Jesus Christ in your heart. 

When YOU judge someone, that does not necessarily define who THEY are, it defines who YOU are. 

John 8:1-12 shares a powerful message about how forgiving our Savior is.

1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” 12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Response: This does not mean sinning (committing adultery) is right, of course. This is just a wonderful and true example of how Jesus stepped in when the people of the town wanted to point out all of someone else's mistakes before stepping back and taking a look at their own lives.

This message goes hand in hand with the way the world thinks and responds now-a-days. You constantly want someone to notice things you do right, but the minute you do something wrong, you follow with, "well so and so is worse than me... did you hear what he/she did?". This world is so full of earthy things when we should all be focusing on the things unseen. 

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. Recognize who YOU are as a person. Point out your own strengths and weaknesses. Focus on things you can improve on, and I promise you... once you do that, you won't have anything negative to say about your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ because you will see past the earthly things and you will open your eyes to the things unseen.

Practice loving, practice giving, practice encouraging, practice praying, practice serving, and practice ministering. 

YOU define who YOU are as a person, don't ever think someone else's words define you. In reality, it only defines them as a person who is a "downer" and not a "lifter".

"Live in such a way where if anyone would speak badly of you, no one would believe it."