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motivation

What Motivates You?

What motivates you?

What gets you going each day? Is it the news? Is it a feeling that you have to perform? Maybe you’re motivated because the rent is due. Perhaps it is just money. That can be an issue when you’re asked to volunteer for something! What motivates you?

Some of us may want to make the world a better place. Others are in survival mode and think this world is a lost cause. Some see possibility today. Others fear the new year will just be a repeat of the previous two. After all, we thought 2021 would be better than 2020, right?

How we see the world determines how we act. I have found the following verse to be a better way.

“ Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.”

Hebrews 10:24 (NLT) via BibleGateway.com

If we want the world to change, we can begin in our own sphere of influence.

  • Check on a neighbor today to see how they’re doing
  • Write an encouraging text to a family member or friend
  • Smile even if you have to wear a mask
  • Find the silver-lining in a situation
  • Offer a solution to a problem instead of complaining

What motivates you? We can take responsibility today and end 2021 on a high note. After all, it may help us start 2022 off on the right foot.

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motivation

Encourage Each Other

Encourage Each Other

How many of us love to go somewhere where we know we will be torn down? Who loves an atmosphere that drips with discouragement and criticism? None of us, I bet. It is far better to be at a place where we encourage each other!

If you’ve read many of my posts, you know I value encouragement and like to give it. To me, it is the key to motivation. None of us like to be criticized. Yet, we all need to learn how to improve. It can be a fine line between being taught how to improve and being torn down. As a result, we must be careful to do more building up than tearing down.

I like to keep this verse in mind:

“Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV) via Biblegateway.com

In the Apostle Paul’s epistles, there were plenty of instances where he had to rebuke and steer a person or church in the right direction. Yet, he also seasoned them with thanksgiving and encouragement. He knew there was always something positive to highlight. We all need to know there is something we are doing right. Otherwise, what’s the point?

So when someone frustrates us, let’s try encouragement. Find at least one thing the person is doing right. Consider how you would feel if all you heard was negative. How can you find something good to highlight along with the factor that needs improvement. A little motivation along with instruction could go a long way!

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motivation

Kindness Saves Us

Kindness Saves Us

Most of us think it would be great if there was a little more consideration in the world. We would like to be treated better, whether at a store on the road. But do we ever consider that our kindness saves us?

We were traveling on the day after Christmas. I thought things were a little crazy before the holidays. However, December 26 had nothing on the pre-Christmas madhouse.

On the interstate, muscle cars, pickups, and the occasional motorcycle acted like they were in a Fast and Furious movie. When I was driving, I felt my blood pressure rise and my brow furrow.

At one point, we came upon an accident. Traffic was backed up about six miles. All the previous speeders had to slow down like the rest of us. They had no choice. Since I was the passenger at this point, I got a photo of the aftermath.

Auto accident on a freeway shoulder as the sun sets. © 2021 Kevin Spear

As we waited, I wondered if it was speed and an ill-timed lane change that caused the accident. I reminded myself of the following proverb.

Your kindness will reward you,
but your cruelty will destroy you.

Proverbs 11:17 (NLT)

Frequently, it is selfishness and cruelty that harm us. We believe we have the right to do an aggressive, selfish act only to discover it didn’t help the situation and only made things worse.

Hopefully, the parties involved were okay. And if an aggressive drive was involved, hopefully, someone learned a lesson before they destroy themselves or others. Let’s be kind to one another out there before we destroy each other.

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Christianity Christmas holiday Religion Cartoons

Day After Christmas

What would the day after the first Christmas have looked like? How would the day after the shepherds have looked?

  • Would there have been some curious people strolling in because they heard the shepherds’ proclamation?
  • Could the innkeeper caved into the guilt and got the new family a room, or at least some comforts?
  • Did Joseph have to scramble to the busy marketplace to find some food for the starving, exhausted mother?
  • Did the barn animals behave themselves? Surely they couldn’t keep quiet as the baby laid in the manger!
Cartoon of a nativity scene with a cow and donkey. The cow says, “Nonesense, my dear Donkey! It wasn’t my lowing, but your braying that woke the poor baby!

I think back to the days after my children were born. We were grateful for the grandparents’ help. Our small group made sure we were well fed and cared for. At the same time, we were exhausted and equally thankful when we were home and the excitement had died down… then came the work of raising a brand new human!

How was it for the new parents? No grandparents were nearby. All the support was ninety miles away in Nazareth. Did they help from others that were brought together for the census?

Maybe it was a silent night, but the next day was probably a cacophony of noise, smells, and activity. It makes me that much more thankful that hope, light, and love had come.

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Christmas holiday

Merry Christmas!

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future.” Charles Dickens

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future.”

Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol (AmazonClassics Edition) (p. 97). Amazon Classics. Kindle Edition.

It’s Christmas morning! we have made it through the hustle and bustle. Now it is time to settle down with our favorite hot beverage, check out what is under the tree, and wish our loved ones a Merry Christmas!

Ebenezer Scrooge is one of my favorite literary characters. He is a reminder no one is beyond redemption. It is full of reckoning, suspense, and grace. A Christmas Carol reminds me that anyone can have a second chance.

To be honest, I struggle with that once in a while. I am sure we all do. There is someone that hurt us, a person that feels justified in their actions that makes it hard to forgive and welcome them with Christmas cheer. If we’re honest, all of us can think of someone right now.

But on this day, let us have nothing but peace on earth, goodwill to all. Let us honor Christmas in our hearts, and try to keep it all year long. May your day be blessed!