35 Lessons Learned From A Thirty-Five Year Old

1. The true training ground for your walk in Christ doesn’t happen while you are in church, but once you step outside.  It is in your day-to-day relationships, responses to others and the choices you make daily, even while waiting.
2. You have the right to decide who and what you will or won’t allow in your space. Choose wisely.
3. Love people fully and graciously. They need to know Jesus. Don’t be the/a reason they don’t want to know anything about Him.
4. Learning how to see things, situations and people from God’s perspective makes a huge impact on how you respond.
5. People have to live with their own decisions and choices. Only concern yourself with the ones that you made on your own.
6. Being easily offended makes you think everything is always about you. It’s not. Don’t take things so personal.
7. Be careful who you have in your ear or who you lend your ear to. It can affect you in ways you never imagined.
8. When you have the opportunity to have a mirror/microscopic view into someone’s life, it isn’t for you to become critical, pass judgment or even scrutinize it or them. The mirror is for you to repent (as you will often see a reflection of similar things in your own life) and the microscope is to provide the specific up close and personal details so you can pray better and more intentionally.  
9. The Holy Spirit and His insight trumps age, wisdom and experience EVERY time. (He’ll tell you things you couldn’t possible know any other way.)
10. Whether a situation changes in your life or not, of most importance is that you change.
11. God does His best work with broken people (those who remain humble, dependent and desperate for Him.)
12. Be sure that when you are deciding whether or not you are settling-in business, a romantic relationship or friendship-that you consider and make decisions based on the person’s character, not their habits. Habits can change. A person’s character, however, is a lot harder.
13. Division among people is the enemy’s oldest trick and his playground. Unity is God’s playing field. Make sure you are playing on the right team.
14. You do not have to reply “Yes” to every argument you were invited to. Politely “Return to sender”.
15. There is a difference between being alive and living. You only have control over one. Manage it well.
16. Stop trying to fit into a mold that others, self or society has created for you. We are always becoming, always changing and always transforming so we will never fit it.
17. There is a big difference between being open and transparent vs. being vulnerable. Reserve vulnerable moments for those who have a VIP backstage pass in your life.
18. Stop making demands or having expectations-spoken or unspoken-of others, especially when you have not made those demands on yourself nor do you meet those requirements.
19. Never stop praying. Keep giving the devil a black eye.
20. Be consistent with being you. “People whose words and actions are not consistent do not know themselves well.” ~ Van Moody from The People Factor
21. A focus on the Cross always helps to put people, things and situations back into proper perspective.
22. When too much of your energy and focus is placed on thinking about the future, which isn’t promised, you rob yourself of the present moments.
23. Learn to embrace the person you were created to be and others will eventually start to embrace that person as well.
24. The closer you get to becoming your true, authentic self, the easier it becomes to be bold and say ‘No’.
25. Fix your focus on Jesus and everything else that is important will come into focus.
26. There is always a silver lining in every situation, no matter how faint it may be.  You may have to adjust your vision or squint to see it.
27. Let the Lord, not you or other people, determine your pace and progress.
28.  Treat others how you would like to be treated, not always necessarily how they actually treat you. (Matthew 7:12)
29. I have been chosen and handpicked by God.  This is a blessing. It is also costly.
30. Stop trying to manage others’ emotions or responses. Let people be who they are.
31. “If you think something good, say it. Every time you think something good about someone, set that blessing free. Why would you ever rob someone of a blessing by withholding something that would build someone else up. Text it, say it. Be a voice of encouragement.” ~Craig Groeschel
32. God specializes in resurrecting that which is or may seem dead in your life.
33. Relationships usually don’t change until people do.
34. Stop looking to others’ timelines and schedules as a reference for defining your own.
35. Some of the most difficult 3 word sentences to say are: “I am sorry”, “I love you”, “Please forgive me”, “I forgive you”, “I miss you” “I was wrong”, “I messed up” and “I need you”. Yet they are the ones people need to hear to feel valued, appreciated and loved. They are vital to building, maintaining, healing and restoring relationships.

Happy New Year to you!

Photo credit: nraila.org, Word Swag

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