Yesterday I talked about good fires and bad fires…if you did not get a chance to read it do so here…Good Fires & Bad Fires

We need to start more fires than we are tying to put out. Too many times we are caught up in survival mode rather than thriver mode! Most people are spending their life trying to put out the bad fires so they never spend time lighting the good ones. We have a tendency to focus on all the “bad stuff” rather than capitalizing on all the “good stuff.” So how do you spend time being a firelighter rather than just a firefighter?

1. Encourage Yourself

Quit being your worst critic! The last person on the earth you need to be sabotaged by is…YOU! Instead of being your worst enemy how about becoming your best friend? The person you will talk to more than anyone else in your life is yourself! The truth is you will either encourage yourself or discourage yourself, it is one or the other. At all times you have the ability to make the choice to either lift yourself up or tear yourself down. It is hard to get ahead in life if you are always degrading yourself. You will tend to live up to the expectation you set on yourself. If you view yourself as a failure, you will probably begin to manifest that perception.

Proverbs 23:7

As a man thinks in his heart so is he.

The way you perform in life is a direct result of the way you see yourself. You can see yourself as worthless while at the same time come across as confident to others. You can’t see yourself as faithless while at the same time be driven by faith. Start to be a firelighter in your own life. Speak purpose over your life and lift your eyes up! Be encouraged that you are a child of God as a follower of Him! Are you perfect? No, but Christ is working out your salvation day by day! The journey of life is more of Him and less of us. Make sure you build yourself up in your faith, build yourself up in your words, build yourself up in your thoughts, build yourself up in your prayers! Push yourself to be better, but don’t beat yourself down by being critical. I love how the Apostle Paul settled this balance of pushing but not paralyzing yourself.

Philippians 3:12-14

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Notice he said, “Not that I have already obtained all this…” Paul knew that there was more. He knew to keep pushing himself for greater things in Christ! He never felt settled in maintaining mode, he wanted more! But also notice he didn’t beat himself up about his failures in the past. He says, “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead.” Paul didn’t spend his time putting out the fires of the past he strained towards lighting new fires for the future! He spent his time pressing on towards new things not beating himself up for the past things!

So be encouraged today and know that Christ is working in you and through you to accomplish great things in this life! Don’t be discouraged by your own doing! God is the glory and lifter of our head!

“Be more focused on who you are becoming rather than who you were!”