Christian Living

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Which Examples Are You Following?
by Dan Langerock

I have a friend who is a chemist for a water company. If he takes only samples from water he knows is bad, he will end up with all negative results, right? The same is true in our lives. We have both negative and positive examples in our, but the ones we choose to follow and look at will help determine the course of our lives. Let's look at the results with each choice:

Negative Examples

Fear
There are so many bad examples in life, they seem to outweigh the good ones, but the positive examples are still there. Do you want your life to be controlled by fear because of what you are seeing around you? This will permeate into your relationships and cause you not to want to commit to a worthwhile one if you let this fear progress. Fears are like weeds, they keep growing without much effort.

Distrust
Fear and distrust are close cousins. We expect the same treatment from the next person as we received from the last, and sometimes it works out that way, but it doesn't have to. Often we are lax about who we choose as friends and acquaintances, so we reap the bad results. We let people get close to us who shouldn't be in that position. This is where God can give us wisdom so we can evaluate what is really happening and not just trust others blindly.


Positive Examples

Trust
Since we are looking at the proper examples, we will more likely trust others wisely, not indiscriminately. Just because you trust people doesn't mean you are stupid or naive. God wants us to trust others in many areas, but not without wisdom and evaluation.
We stick our proverbial necks out when we trust others and sometimes it hurts when we choose wrongly. But don't let that color your lifelong judgment of others' motives. God has the wisdom you need to see beyond what is said by a person, so utilize what He has for you. Otherwise it is like having money in the bank and living like a pauper--not too swift.

Love
When we are not fearing we can put everything into our love and make it a lasting one with God's help. Again, it is dependent on the person you pick and the wisdom you use in the process. Not everyone is meant to be in relationship with you, so be careful but don't preclude love for fear of a failure. You will be miserable all your life if you take this stance, missing the blessing of love in your life.
What examples are you following in your life? If you follow the negative ones and concentrate on them, you will have negative results in your life along with loneliness fear and distrust. However, if you choose to follow the positive examples, you can have a blessed life full of love and happiness if you use the wisdom God has for you. He won't get mad at you for asking, because He loves to have us ask. Don't waste your life on bad examples even though there are so many of them. Learn from the mistakes others have made so you don't have to repeat them. Ask God to show you the way to happiness. Remember that He loves you!

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