Love is the most excellent way

Did you know that Love is a puzzle and you are the only one who can solve it?
Draw a heart on the back of your paper. Divide the heart into three, and write the following on each piece respectively.
- Love the Lord YOUr God Matt 22:37-38
- Love YOUr neighbor Matt 22:39
- Love YOUrself Matt 22:39
What word is common to all three pieces, YOU!. You are the link. We are going to talk about becoming a better YOU.
1. Keep pressing forward (Philippians 3:12; Hebrews 12:1-3.)
a. Know who you are in Christ and the power of the bloodline Gal 2:20
b. Break free from the strongholds of your past. If you don’t heal from past wounds, you won’t be able to handle fresh wounds that may come.
c. Discover your destiny. Find out what your destiny and destination is.
d. Give your dreams a new beginning. Start afresh. Get a new vision statement.
e. Stretch to the next level. Find new possibilities. Start a business. Launch your ministry. Go back to school. Do something.
“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark.”

2. Be positive towards yourself (Psalm 139:14; Genesis 1:26)
a. Stop listening to accusing voices. Rom 8:1
b. Learn to like yourself. I like me! I am a victor not a victim!
c. Make your words work for you. Speak positively. Prov 18:21
d. Have confidence in yourself. Be yourself. You are an original. Don’t try to be someone else.
“At every moment of every day, you have a bank of courage waiting for you to draw on it to live a little bigger, act a little bolder, and reveal your full brilliance to the world.”

3. Develop better relationships (1 Corinthians 15:33; Hebrews 10:25)
a. Bring the best out in people. Encourage people, do not discourage them. Body Language is equally as important as what you say.
b. Keep the strife out of your life. II Tim 2:24; Prov 6:16-19. Spirits are transferable. If you spend time with a gossip, you will become a gossip. If you sit with a negative person, you will become negative. Psalm 1:1
c. Take a stand for your family. Do not disrespect your spouse or your children outside. Do not allow people to do that either.
d. Invest in your relationships. Get to know people they don’t have to be your best friend in the process. If you are in leadership, you need to get to know your people; otherwise it will be difficult for you to get them to listen to you.
e. Be good to people. Adults and children alike.
“Integrity is the essence of everything successful.”

4. Form better habits (A habit is something you do over and over again without thinking)
a. Feed your good habits. Keep doing them.
b. Develop a habit of happiness. Happiness is a choice, only you can make it happen.
c. Learn how to handle criticism. If it is constructive, let it generate a change. If it is not, do nothing, jut make a bridge over it.
d. Keep yourself happy. Learn to say No with wisdom. Exercise self control, and do not let negative emotions rule over you.
“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

5. Embrace the place where you are, remembering that this is not the end of the road. In other words, enjoy where you are on your way to where you are going. ( Ecc 3:11; Col 3:12)
a. It is well with my soul. Encourage yourself, and spend time with people who will encourage you, not put you down.
b. Stay in peace. Phil 4:7
c. Remember the good. Psalm 103:2
d. God is in control Rom 8:28; Luke 10:19; Jer 29:11
“Do what you really want to do. Don’t let the words of others hold you back. Take a step towards your dream. As you move closer, new opportunities will open up that you never imagined possible. The journey will be full of struggle, but I learned that the greater the struggle, the greater the victory! As you go for your dream, you will inspire others to live their own.”

6. Develop your inner life. (II Tim 2:15)
a. Rise Higher. Don’t keep what you have learnt to yourself.
b. Develop a tender conscience. Be a doer, not just a hearer.
c. Deal with the root issues. Bitterness, hurt, envy, resentment, unforgiveness etc. Uproot them.
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”

7. Stay passionate about life
a. Plan for blessing
b. Keep singing your song
c. Move from believing to expecting
"We cannot fulfill ourselves by ourselves. Our fulfillment occurs through giving of ourselves in our relationships with others. "

“It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing.

It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.”

“When you make loving others the story of your life, there’s never a final chapter, because the legacy continues.”
d.
CONCLUSION

It all starts within our own minds and what we believe to be true about ourselves. When you can get rid of your negative emotions and trains of thought, you are able to allow others to see the real you. When you can allow the others to see the real you, you are indeed the confident and bold woman that God wants you to be.

Prayer Points
1. Lord, grant me the grace and desire to keep pressing forward
2. Lord, give me a positive attitude to everything in life
3. Lord, help me to develop better relationships
4. Lord, help me to form better habits
5. Lord, help me to embrace the place where I am, remembering that this is not the end of the road
6. Holy Spirit I need you!