“QUOTES FOR LIFE (Part 2 of 3)”
“So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.”
– Colossians 3:1-2
As I wrote last week… every once in a while, it is good to have handy a list of quotes or sayings to help guide us along the way. Faith matters… we all believe in something… and as last week’s post included quotes on life, love and hope allow me to add in three more words… pride, pain and peace… as we all have had some pride and pain that is… and we all need some… especially some peace!
PRIDE: “Get wisdom—it’s worth more than money; choose insight over income every time. The road of right living bypasses evil; watch your step and save your life. First pride, then the crash— the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.”
– Proverbs 16:16-18
“My dear, dear friends! I love you so much. I do want the very best for you. You make me feel such joy, fill me with such pride. Don’t waver. Stay on track, steady in God.”
– Philippians 4:1
“Two broken hearts, lonely, looking like houses where nobody lives, two people each having so much pride inside, no one forgives. The angry words spoken in haste, such a waste of two lives. It’s my belief pride is the chief cause in the decline in the number of husbands and wives.”
– Roger Miller / ‘Husbands and Wives’
PAIN: ”God, listen! Listen to my prayer, listen to the pain in my cries. Don’t turn your back on me just when I need you so desperately. Pay attention! This is a cry for help! And hurry—this can’t wait!”
– Psalm 102:1-2
“It’s obvious, of course, that he didn’t go to all this trouble for angels. It was for people like us, children of Abraham. That’s why he had to enter into every detail of human life. Then, when he came before God as high priest to get rid of the people’s sins, he would have already experienced it all himself—all the pain, all the testing—and would be able to help where help was needed.”
– Hebrews 2:16-18
“Of the seven deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back—in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.”
– Frederick Buechner/Wishful Thinking
PEACE: “A meal of bread and water in contented peace is better than a banquet spiced with quarrels.”
– Proverbs 17:1
“And that’s about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure.”
– 2 Corinthians 13:11-12
“There never was a good war nor a bad peace.”
– Benjamin Franklin
We often stub our hearts in moments of pride. The pain seems to always follow. Sometimes we seek it and sometimes pride, and pain just fall at our feet. It’s better when someone else is proud of us. The pain is minimal. Joy abounds.
As for peace… it comes from God and settles within our hearts and minds… a peace that surpasses all human understanding… a peace to keep us connected to God and the way of Christ…
Faith matters. Always.
Next week: GUILT, GRACE and GREATNESS
The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Gigee is a long-time resident of Pearland, having pastored four churches over the last four decades in Texas and Louisiana. Read more following Brian’s blog ‘murmurings’ at https://briangigee.wordpress.com/. Send comments and/or questions to godworks247365@gmail.com.
