Can you believe that January 1, 2012 is right around the corner? Have you stopped to ponder what achievements you made in 2011? Can you look back and say, “Wow, the things that I set out to do and they were actually accomplished!” Or do you look back and say, “What did I achieve to be happy about or proud of?”
Do you remember your list of New Year's Resolutions of 2011? Did you accomplish any of them? What do you actually consider achievements? Is it what we ‘do’ such as make more money, get a new job, sell a house, buy a house, write a book, get a raise, get a medal, get married, have a child, lose weight, gain weight, etc.
Were any of your resolutions intangible? Or were they all something that could be visibly seen, tasted, touched or heard?
Have you ever considered achievement in the form of something not visible or tangible? What about getting a long better with your spouse? Spending more time with your family? Making more friends? Building a bridge between someone who was hostile or cool towards you? Serving others in ways you never did before?
What makes you happier? Did you know that what really makes us happy is helping and serving others! What we do for others actually gives us more of a feeling of contentment and satisfaction than what we “do”. What we do today may make us feel good for awhile, but tomorrow is another day and the feeling may not really last very long. But, when you help someone, when you serve others, it gives you lasting satisfaction because you know that someone else was made happy by your actions!
- Proverbs 14:21:“Whoever despises his neighbor sins, but whoever shows kindness to the poor will be happy.” (International Standard Version)
- Proverbs 20:7: “The righteous person lives a life of integrity; happy are his children who follow him!” (ISV)
At the end of your life, will you be thanking God for all the money you made that you can’t take with you to the grave? How about all the wonderful perks you had with your great high end career? Or will you thank God for your spouse and your wonderful family of children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and/or extended family that He gave you? What about the wonderful friends that you made throughout your life; those who sustained you in hard times, who prayed for you when you were ill and/or having difficult financial days, months or years, etc.?
What value do you place on people? If you value only ‘things,’ and what you can achieve in this life then your life will not be filled with the lasting kind of joy and happiness you would like to have.
Continued….
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