In 5 Years

Today I had a very sad moment. I was chatting with an old friend. We used to use this ancient form of communication called email and excanged a few emails way back. We would encourage each other and talk about our lives. Then we had lost touch for awhile. Like a few years. Recently we reconnected and were catching up. Today saddened me. I realized that the person she had become was one that was marked by pain, bad choices, and trying to prove that she's doing alright. 

I came away from the conversation sad because it's not what I want to become. 

I want to become a person who is marked by her radical love for God and others. I want to become a strong encourager of the Church and someone that is a blessing to those around her. I want to become the person that God wants me to be.  

But how do I get there? How do I look back five years from now and be closer to that goal? How do I become the person that God destined me to be? 

You do it the same way you build a house. One part at a time. One day at a time. No one wakes up one day and becomes an evil person. You do it in stages. You entertain bad thoughts. You make a compromise. And it starts a downward spiral. The opposite is also true. If you fight the flesh, live radically for God, and do what He sets before you, you will build a life that honors God. Even if you have made mistakes in the past, they don't have to determine your future. Because of Gods amazing grace we have the ability to build a life that honors God and lives out radical love to a hurting world. 

Today and everyday I want to chose to live life Gods way. I want to look back in five years and be thanking God for all that He has done, for the person that He has made me into. 

Let's see what Happens when we put 5 years of these days together.