God’s unconditionally love for us should be our motivation to love Him.

Nobody likes a fair-weather friend. You know, those people who hang around only when things are going well. You realize that their companionship and loyalty are merely an illusion if they bolt as soon as times get tough. You wouldn’t want a “friend” like that.

Neither does God, but sadly, many of us treat Him that way. We give God our adoration and allegiance only when He fulfills our expectations. So, if things are going smoothly in our lives, we are glad to express our appreciation by being attentive to Him. But when difficulties arise, we are quick to blame God. We want a God who is going to make our lives easy, so if He doesn’t give us what we want, we don’t want to waste our time on Him.

Aren’t you glad that His love for us endures no matter how we treat Him? That is true love from a true friend, and that should be how we respond to Him.

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him.

1 John 4:16

If you want to know God’s will, spend time with Him.

One of the mysteries of life is the will of God. We desperately want to know what God wants us to do, but we’re not really sure how to find out. While it’s true that we will never know all of God’s will (after all, He’s God), we can know a lot of what He wants us to do by spending time with Him.

Think about it on a human level. The more you get to know someone, the more you know what that person is like, and the more you know what that person likes. That’s what God’s will is all about–knowing what God is like and knowing what He likes. So you could say that the only way to really know God’s will is to really know God.

How do you do that? By spending time with Him. And how do you spend time with God? By reading the Bible, His personal message to you, and by talking with Him through prayer as often as you can.

Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.

Psalm 119:105

If you want to have a great life for yourself, then give it away to God.

Ambition is natural. After all, you want a happy family, friendships, financial security, and good health. In other words, you want a great life. It’s only natural to have such ambitions and to do everything necessary to attain your goals. But should you be ambitious just because it comes naturally?

Jesus taught about the great irony of self-ambition. He said you must lost your life in order to keep it. This paradox forces you to choose which is more important: your physical life or your eternal soul. Jesus taught that gaining everything on Earth–all the things that are supposed to make you happy–will still leave you emotionally bankrupt if you don’t have a spiritual relationship with God.

God wants you to live with ambition and purpose, but He doesn’t want your focus to be self-centered and self-directed. Let God be your priority. Let living in His Kingdom be your ambition.

“And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose or forfeit your own soul in the process?”

Luke 9:25

When you begin to feel self-important, remember how mighty and vast God is.

The opposite of feeling insignificant is feeling self-important, and we’ve got plenty of that going around. Everybody wants to be king of the world. There’s only one problem with putting yourself at the center of the universe: You tend to push God out.

We’re all for feeling confident. There’s nothing wrong with knowing who you are, as long as you know whose you are. You aren’t some autonomous being in full control of your destiny. You belong to God, who designed and built you as surely as He set the moon and the stars in place.

Knowing that, it seems a little silly to tell God, “Thanks for getting the ball rolling, but I can handle it from here.” Instead, we should be thankful that our big God has taken our small lives and turned them into something significant.

When I look up at the night sky and see the work of your fingers–the moon and the stars you have set in place–what are mortals that you should think of us, mere humans that you should care for us?

Psalm 8:3-4

Whenever you feel insignificant, remember how important you are to God.

It doesn’t take much effort to feel insignificant. Another person–probably someone you know pretty well–makes a negative comment about you, or your fail to meet your own expectations, and soon you’re feeling low.

Or you start comparing your mundane achievements to the people who make headlines for their great accomplishments–especially in your field–and it doesn’t take long for you to believe that your work or your position doesn’t count for much. You wonder if anybody really cares.

Okay, we’ve gone low enough! That’s no place for someone who God loves and cares about more than can be imagined. Your life has value and what you do has significance because you are important to God.

“Not even a sparrow, worth only half a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to him than whole flock of sparrows.”

Matthew 10:29-31

If you look at your circumstances through God’s eyes, then your circumstances won’t obscure your view of God.

We make life a lot harder than it needs to be. This happens whenever the circumstances in our lives discourage us. When problems arise, and nothing goes right, the stress builds. We become unhappy, discouraged, and discontented. It is in those tough times that God seems distant.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Instead of trying to see God through your circumstances, try the opposite approach. Look at your circumstances through God’s eyes.

God doesn’t see your circumstances as insurmountable. He’s not intimidated or discourage by them. Since they aren’t problems for Him, they shouldn’t be for you.

The next time you find yourself looking down in despair, lift your head and start looking up. Stop worrying about your obstacles, and start thinking about the God who can help you overcome them.

For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need.

Philippians 4:13

Contentment begins when comparison stops.

It is impossible to weigh your contentment on a scale of stuff. If stuff is your measurement, you will never have enough, because there will always be someone who has more stuff than you do. You will never be content.

Neither will you be content if you are proud of the fact that you don’t have a lot of stuff, because there will always be someone who is more proud of their poverty than you are.

Stuff has nothing to do with contentment, because contentment is a matter of your heart, not your wallet. Real contentment comes when you focus your heart and your mind on things above rather than things on Earth (Colossians 3:2).

I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation.

Philippians 4:12

Discover the things that please God, and then make them habits.

It’s only natural to want to please someone you like. You do it, not because you’re obligated, but because you want to give joy to someone you care about. God likes it when you please Him, but don’t do it to give Him joy–god doesn’t need to have His spirits lifted. And don’t try to please God in order to butter Him up like you might do a parent or a boss in order to get something.

Pleasing God is for your enjoyment and your benefit. When you do the things and think the thoughts that please God (to find out how, check God’s Word), your life takes on new meaning and purpose. Not only that, but your impact on those around you will increase as you make pleasing God a habit.

And we will receive whatever we request because we obey him and do the things that please him.

1 John 3:22

Your self-esteem should not be derived from how great you think you are, but from how much God loves you.

There is a lot of talk these days about building your “self-esteem” so you will have the confidence you need to make it in society. But confidence placed in yourself is doomed for failure (because you will someday learn that you aren’t as great as you have been telling yourself). Instead of being confident in yourself, try placing your confidence in God, who will never fail, and who will never fail you.

If you belong to God, there is no one or nothing that can separate you from His love and protection. This can give you real confidence. Circumstances can be tough, but He will see you through. Even death won’t defeat you.

God loves you so much that He allowed His Son to die on the cross for you. That is the kind of love in which you can place all of your confidence.

I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love.

Romans 8:38

Thank God that your salvation does not depend on you.

In the physical world there are many ways to be saved, but first you have to be in a situation where you would eventually die without help. A guy in a lifeboat could pull you out of the freezing water, or a skilled surgeon could save your life on the operating table. In either case you would be saved, and there would be nothing you could do to save yourself.

The same principle applies in the spiritual world. All of us are in a situation where we will eventually die spiritually without help, and there’s nothing we can do to save ourselves. We could thrash around in the freezing water, we could try to operate on ourselves, but all of our efforts would be futile.

All of our efforts won’t help us spiritually, but God is willing to save us–if we only believe in Him.

God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.

Ephesians 2:8