Monday, February 24, 2014

At 20: Twenty Things I Would Tell My 15-Year-Old-Self


(In no particular order.)

1.      Never forget to experience God’s grace and live your namesake.

2.      The world will tell you who you must be, what you must do, how you must act (and all inverses). Live in the truth of who Jesus says you are, remembering that you cannot be any more righteous than you are by Him.

3.      Secure your heart so fully in God that you can offer it to anyone as they might need without fear of misuse.  

4.      Read, read, read.

5.      Do not let one disappointed love embitter your heart.

6.      Pursue the hearts of your siblings—you will need them.

7.      Take to heart the example of Jesus in private prayer, for that is the truest measure of your desire to know the Father and the truest demonstration of dependency on Him.

8.      Do not dampen your heart’s passion in conformity to people’s expectations of you.

9.      People will doubt your ability to “make it” as a writer; remember that writing is whatever you make of it.

10.  Forgive seventy times seven, and then again.

11.  Just remember, when you get that phone, you can never go back.

12.  Do not let two disappointed loves make you doubt.

13.  Know how to defend your faith.

14.  Don’t obsess over your outward appearance, for it will always demand more time, more energy, and more money. When you turn twenty, you will have to make up for lost time fashioning your character.

15.  Wait a few years to read Joshua Harris’ books.

16.  Do not obsess about what other people think of you, but be careful about how they perceive you, for upon that perception your reputation is established.

17.  Cultivate an appreciation for music and practice your guitar. Someday it will be a tremendous tool of expression and worship, if you know how to use it.

18.  Do not let three disappointed loves make you afraid.

19.  Ask Jesus to show you when you are being, and when you are being a moralist.

20.  Give yourself grace to make mistakes and wrong decisions. After all, there will be no twenty-year-old self to give you the right answers.

 

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