Sorry it's been a while since I last posted, with scholarship packets, school, work and other things, I've just been so busy! Anyway, here's what's been on my mind lately:

So there's this song on the radio that always happens to play when I turn my radio on in the car. The lyrics say something like: "You are more than the choices that you've made, You are more than the sum of your past mistakes, You are more than the problems you create,You've been remade."

The more I think about it, the more that it really hits me. Our mistakes do no define us. Our past does not define us. We have been remade into what God sees us: his precious child that he unconditionally loves. We shouldn't continually to look down at ourselves and beat ourselves down over something that we said or did yesterday or even a year ago. I know it's hard to let go of our past mistakes sometimes, but we must slowly learn how to do it. God forgave us and continues to forgive us even though we continue to make mistakes so we should learn to forgive ourselves.

Daniel 9:9 says: "The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him"

What gives us the right to not forgive ourselves when God already has forgiven us?

It's crazy to think how we've become so selfish lately. We've come to have a mentality of "I do what I want" or "I'm doing me and that's all that matters". With that kind of mentality growing rapidly in our generation, it makes me wonder what our future is going to be like. It's okay to be put yourself first and to do what makes you happy to an extent, but we shouldn't forget about how our actions affect others as well. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm guilty of being selfish too. I don't even realize it sometimes. We just get caught up in ourselves and what will make us happy and what will benefit us. We refuse to help someone even if it's something that won't even take ten minutes because we're "too busy". 

Imagine if Jesus was selfish and didn't want to die on the cross for our sins. I mean he was perfect and he was dying on the cross for OUR sins. What if he was just like "Um no God. I'm doing me and I'm putting myself first before all of these wicked people who just continue to sin"? Jesus is a perfect example of someone who walked in selflessness. He didn't have to die on the cross for our sins, but he chose to because he loves us.  
It's not wrong to put ourselves first once in a while, but if we continue to think that way and put ourselves before other people then where will that get us? Even if it's just holding the door for someone or letting them borrow a pen when he or she didn't have one, we can slowly start to be selfless. Who knows, maybe one act of selflessness this week can trigger something in someone and make them feel loved. 

I know that the world would become a different place if we slowly became selfless. 

"Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also the interest of others". -Philippians 2:4 

Transitions are a major part of life: it means someone is going through a change. Sometimes we struggle and can't get through the transitioning phase easily. However, we have to realize that transitions will only be for a short until we reach our destination. 

As high school rolls to an end for the class of 2014 (including me), transitions are happening: scholarship packets, order forms for graduation caps and gowns, sports signings, and college acceptance letters. 
With this transition phase comes a sense of worry. Worry whether or not we will make the right decision of where to go to college, whether or not if we even want to go to college and worry about where we will end up in the future. Worrying is something us human beings tend to do when we are unsure--- we just can't help it!

As cliche as this sounds, life is way too short to be worrying about what tomorrow brings.  The bible says in Matthew 6:34:
  “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." 

With that in our mind, we just need a reminder that we should stop worrying so much. It sounds a lot easier than done--yes, but it can be achieved. We shouldn't get worked up over tomorrow when we have today. God will be there to help us when the time comes in the future.  We get so caught up in planning our future that we aren't thankful for what we have today. 

If we keep worrying about what's going to happen tomorrow, the next week, month or year then how can we truly enjoy what has been given to us today?