Hate is like a cancer. It doesn’t matter if you have a little cancer or a lot of cancer — it’s still cancer. (Inspiration Line)
To hear the doctor use the big “C” word is a frightening experience. It doesn’t matter if it’s small; it’s still scary. Sin is a lot like that, too. Even the smallest of wrongdoing can ruin one’s life and hope.
After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:15)
Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood.
(David Hudson Burnham, 19th-20th century American architect)
When a designer draws plans for a huge project, it creates excitement and a desire to see the completed masterpiece. When we make any plans, we would do well to dream big it will motivate us to give it our best and pursue success.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and . . . to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)
In our life there is a single color, as on an artist`s palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love. (Marc Chagall, Russian-French artist)
Your emotions do affect everything in your life, don’t they? What is the emotion most often reflected in your attitudes? If it’s love, it will certainly paint a beautiful picture people will be drawn to.
Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs. (Proverbs 10:12)
Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
(Berthold Auerbach, 19th century Jewish-German poet)
Music is certainly one of God’s great gifts to man. While there is a great variety of types and styles of music, almost everyone appreciates some kind of the art. It can create a wide range of responses from melancholy to joy. The Bible instructs us to use music to praise God and to encourage our fellow men.
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:19)
In darkness God’s truth shines most clear.
(Corrie Ten Boom, Dutch Christian survivor of Nazi oppression in WW II, in The Hiding Place)
The darker the environment, the brighter a light shines. And it is in times of deep distress that aid from the outside seems so much more helpful and encouraging. Don’t disregard times of stress and darkness, for they often offer greater light and understanding.
You [Jehovah God] have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. (Isaiah 25:4)
Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. (Inspiration Newsletter)
Instead of coveting the talents that others may possess, each of us should discover and exercise our own talents, gifts we were given by God. What a boring life it would be if everyone exercised the same talent! The beauty of our lives is partly because of the variety of talents we enjoy from others. Consider the analogy of the human body.
If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? (1 Corinthians 12:17)
Don’t take anything personally. Nothing others do is because of you.
(Don Miguel Ruiz, Mexican author and spiritualist)
Our natural tendency is to take everything very personally. We quickly think that what others do or say is about us. Occasionally, that is true, but, in reality, others are responsible for their own thoughts and deeds, and we should respond always with grace.
A prayer to God: Then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive, and deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart. (2 Chronicles 6:30)
Unqualified love means there are no prerequisites, no contingencies, no requirements for your love. It is a gift given with no strings attached.
(Inspiration Line)
When people speak of love today, it is often merely an emotional attachment, easily broken because one or the other doesn’t get out of it what he or she thought would always be there. Real love, however, is an active effort to meet another’s needs, not seeking one’s own benefit.
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
(1 John 3:18)
You always miss a shot you never take. (Wayne Gretzky, star hockey player)
That seems obvious, doesn’t it? If you don’t aim at the target, you’ll surely miss it. But, on the other hand, you can’t hit a target if you don’t take the shot. So, we should not only set some goals in life, but we should do our best to reach those goals.
Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. (1 Corinthians 9:26)
True happiness is … to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future. (Seneca, 1st century Roman philosopher)
Worrying about tomorrow takes all the joy out of today. Since tomorrow is uncertain and will have its own concerns, concentrate on today; care for its needs and enjoy its offerings and opportunities.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34)
There is a true glory and a true honor: the glory of duty done – the honor of integrity of principle. (Robert E. Lee)
“Honor to whom honor is due” is an axiom that clearly states a simple principle. We don’t honor those who don’t earn it. Honor and glory are given to people of integrity whose contribution to society is worthy of recognition.
[God gives] glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good. (Romans 2:10)
We tend to think that being unhappy leads people to complain, but it’s truer to say that complaining leads to people becoming unhappy.
(Dennis Prager, American talk show host and columnist)
It’s so easy to complain, isn’t it? Often we complain when things don’t go right, or the weather is bad, or someone is mistreating us. Haven’t we discovered, though, that when we stop complaining, our spirits are lifted? Let’s make it our purpose to be grateful.
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
(1 Thessalonians 5:18)