April 9, 2019 WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John

Who You Are vs. the Darkness Within

Every good Christian I know has overcome the darkness inside them. Jesus made a way for that to happen, and Christians often used specific behavioral qualities that are mentioned in Scripture to become that overcomer. Isaiah chapter 61 is an excellent example of Spiritual qualities that are embedded into everyday practical character traits that will empower you to win over darkness.

This by far is the most informative article I have written to parents, teachers, students, and those in leadership. Without the following behavioral traits, you will never be that winner you always wanted to be. You can never be at peace with yourself or succeed in relationships. It is just that critical to have these 7 qualities manifested in your life.

One, learn to make good promises and commitments and keep them at any cost to your wellbeing. Often, we make poor choices and those choices lead to promises we cannot keep. But once you make a good choice learn to keep your commitment. Keeping one’s promise is the first step in being a happy person and one others can count on. It is the first quality in having the ability to learn and of course, being successful in all areas of your life.

Two, your self-esteem offers you the ability to live with yourself. Too often we never become satisfied with what we have or what we are doing. It is because our self-worth is fragile and limited. What we do, what we own, how we look in other people’s eyes are false and misleading when it comes to our personal worth. We must love ourselves as we are, as Christ sees us. Christ does not consider our personal worth based on our worst sin but sees us as created by God and the potential we can have in Him. A healthy self-esteem is the beginning to a productive and satisfying life worth living.

Three, who likes to be around a negative person? Being a positive person is being a productive individual. We must look at life as an avenue to do good things. What is bad and evil ‘out there’ does not have to define me or bring me down. We must overcome evil with good, and that means, we must overcome negativism with positivism. What we say is critical and how encouraging we are changes people for the better. Let’s be positive!

Four, do good deeds without a reward to yourself. There are too many people that live only for themselves. Oh, you can find them doing nice things to others but there is some reward in their actions that profit themselves. We must live for others and not always be caught thinking about and working for ourselves alone. Always be looking to do kind deeds, help the less fortunate, measure your commitment, self-esteem, and positive outlook by seek to help someone in need each day. Help a family member, a stranger and a friend each day (the triple effect). Make it a persona mission in life to do the ‘triple effect’ each day of your life.

Five, believe in things that are bigger than yourself. I believe in miracles and so should you. Young children believe in the unbelievable and so many adults give up on their dreams and the miracles that God has place in this world all around us. When we do not have miracles, healings, and those events that only God can create we become a weak and hopeless person—a person without the ‘spark of life’ or ‘ray of hope’. Let’s look for the impossible each day of our lives and give thanks when those impossibility impact our life.

Six, do not put off to tomorrow what you can do today. This truth was true 2000 years ago and is still true today. We procrastinate too much! Timing is everything to God (Book of Ecclesiastes) and often once the moment is past so are the benefits of making good things happen. I have often misjudged a situation or hesitated in doing a simple deed and lost the reward of changing my life or someone else’s life. We cannot allow what we deem important or our schedule get in the way of what is right, kind, or worthwhile. We must become ‘people of timing’. People who seize the moment for those that we love and are responsible for.

Seven, nothing in life is without consequences. We must understand and consider that no matter what we do and what choices we make, there are consequences not only for us but for those around us. With every action there is always an equal and just powerful reaction (Newton). This principle is true because God made this to happen in this world. We do live in a vacuum nor are we so important that it is only “me” that is important. Whatever you are about to do, think first, and decide what are the possible outcomes to my decision and action. If you live by this principle, you will save yourself from so much harm and disappointment.

These seven principles should be taught to every child and lived by every adult. These concepts come from Isaiah 61:1-2 and Jesus came to fulfill in our lives. So, start today living out the 7 Principles of truly great character and being a person of everyday happiness!

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

This e-mail, including attachments, may include confidential and/or proprietary information, and may be used only by the person or entity to which it is addressed. If the reader of this e-mail is not the intended recipient or his or her authorized agent, the reader is hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this e-mail is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by replying to this message and delete this e-mail immediately.