Live, as God Intended

'His divine power has given us everything we need...' 2 Peter 1:3 NIV

The Bible says, 'His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness... For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities...they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive...' (2 Peter 1:3-8 NIV).

Here are ten Scriptural principles to help you live as God intended:

(1) Guard your tongue. Always say less than you think and others will respect you.
(2) Make promises sparingly, keep them faithfully, and people will trust you.
(3) Never let an opportunity pass to say a kind word, and some day you will look back with joy and not regret.
(4) Be genuinely interested in others; show it by listening attentively and expressing your appreciation.
(5) Be cheerful. Don't dwell on your aches and pains; everybody has trouble. There are people in the nearest hospital who would gladly swap places with you.
(6) Keep an open mind and try to get all the facts. Discuss, but don't argue. Learn to disagree without being disagreeable. Give other people the benefit of the doubt.
(7) Discourage gossip; it's destructive.
(8) Be sensitive to the feelings of others. If you do, people will consider you to be wise.
(9) Pay no attention to ill-natured remarks about you. Live so that nobody will believe them.
(10) Don't worry about getting the credit, just keep giving your best and be patient. God records and God rewards!

I don't know what happened to Spring, but Winter seemed to be back with a vengeance this week.

Today, is the first day that i have seen sunshine in several days. My backyard is muddy and flooded. My veggie garden looks more like a mud pool, and my carpet has muddy Nixon paw prints all over it.

The sun has returned just in time for the mean cold that i can feel coming on, and i have to spend half the day in hospital getting poked and prodded.

Not fun!

Blahhhh.