Every kid may dream of winning an Olympic medal or a Super Bowl ring...but no one dreams of coming in last. But Jesus tells us, "The first will be last and the last will be first."

And this isn't just something Jesus said, it's something he did when he laid down his life for us on the cross. So, if we want to be more like Jesus, we have to learn how to put ourselves last and to put God and others first.

We all know that our world can be a messed up place filled with violence and hatred. But none of us want the world to be that way. So is there some way that we can overcome violence with mercy? Is there some way that we can learn to love instead of hate?

Jesus tells us there is. But just because there's a way to do it, that doesn't mean it's easy...but it is possible if we practice what Jesus preached.

We’ve all experienced things that have caused us to lose our temper or hold a grudge. We've all experienced things that have made us bitter.

But, if we want to be more like Jesus, we have to let go of our bitterness. Instead, we need to learn to be more kind, more compassionate, and more forgiving.

In Acts 8:29, we're reminded that God wants us to "be like his Son" Jesus. But we all have times when we don't really act like Jesus. Things happen in life that make us angry, or jealous, or greedy. Or, to put it another way, we get dirty.

So we need to clean up. And that's what Lent is all about. Lent reminds us that we need to clean up to become more like Jesus.

Sometimes it feels like there are a million things to get done on our to-do lists. And all of the things we want to get done are important...they wouldn't make it onto our to-do list if they weren't.

But, in our busyness, we need to make sure we don't let things that are important get in the way of things that are imperative. 

No matter how hard we try to keep up with all of our commitments, things always end up on the back burner. Sadly, our relationship with God tends to be one of the first things we put on the back burner when life gets busy.

So what can we do to make sure God remains a priority in our lives when life gets busy? We can slow down and remember who God is.

Many of us struggle to tell other people "no." Because of this, we fill up our time and schedules with things that aren't that important to us.

So if we want to overcome our busyness, we need to learn to set boundaries. And we need to learn to make sure that all of our yeses count.

We live in a culture that often tells us that our worth comes from our work. So, we think that we have to be constantly busy just to show how valuable we are.

So if we want to be able to slow down and make time for what really matters, we have to understand where our value truly comes from.

Even though the New Year has only just begun, many of our calendars are already filling up. But no matter how busy we get, we still try to cram more events and activities into our lives.

But our chronic busyness is taking a toll on our lives. So we need to find ways to slow down and make time for what matters the most in our lives.

In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving each year, it feels like everyone has tips and tricks to make us more thankful. But the truth is that in spite of all of these tips and tricks, we still aren't great at being grateful.

And we're never going to be great at being grateful until we realize just how blessed we are.