I Believe

Acknowledge and delight in God’s present and future promise.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.

Anxiety about “looks” begins at a very early age. Parents should do their best to minimize this.

Being a slave to the opinions of others makes for a less than desirable existence.

Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Contentment is an internal matter that is not at the mercy of external circumstances.

Each of us will give an account of himself or herself to God.

Everything good and loving has its source in God.

Face the future with joy and anticipation. God has great plans for each of us.

Fill up the crevices of time with the things that matter most.

Forgiving ourselves is just as important as forgiving others.

Friendship with the world (doing anything that conflicts with God’s Word) is hatred toward God.

God has a record of everything.

God is first and He is last! We are gathered up in between, as in great arms of an eternal, loving kindness.

God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble.

Grace means God accepts us just as we are.

Gratitude is a conscious and deliberate decision to focus on life’s blessings rather than its shortcomings.

If we cannot say something positive, silence is the next best alternative.

It is impossible to control and change others. We have our hands full controlling and changing ourselves.

No one has our unique design; therefore, everyone is different but of equal value in God’s eyes.

Proud people are seldom grateful because they seldom think they get as much as they deserve.

Rather than expect perfection, settle for daily improvement.

Replacing negative thoughts with positive ones puts us on the “right” road.

Talk only about what is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good reports.

The longer we have been exposed to a particular blessing, the more likely we are to take it for granted.

The more we seek to become satisfied as consumers, the emptier we can become.

The “owe me” attitude or belief that someone or some group owes us destroys gratitude.

The power of habit causes us to express the negative and ignore the positive.

The strongest self-worth develops in children who perceive unconditional love from their parents.

What comes out of our mouths is a reflection of our inner thoughts.

What we dwell on becomes increasingly prominent in our minds and determines our actions.

What we sow in thought, either useful or useless, manifests itself in our behavior.

When people with different values “hang out” together, somebody ultimately changes.

When we change our focus, we change our life.

When we give up the need to be right, we expand our options and experience joy instead of stress.

When we practice compassion, we detach ourselves from the situation and do not over-personalize it.

Self-reflection is always a good exercise. What I believe is a work in progress, not limited to these statements and subject to change. What do YOU believe?