You can do more damage with your words than you can with any other part of your body or any other thing you have control over. With technology and word-of-mouth potential, you can destroy a person with words and not even be in the same room with them.

There’s good news on the flip side of that, though: Your words have the power to build others up. The tongue really is a miraculous thing. We don’t see anything else in all of nature where two opposing things can come from the same source. The tongue has the power to destroy and the power to build up.

When we say yes to Jesus and receive His salvation, we die to self. But, the next day we will have to die again. And the next day and the next. The battle with our selfish desires occurs from the moment we wake up until the moment we drift off to sleep. Dying to self is an everyday event. The more we follow Christ, the more we should be dying to self. Why? Because we have sought after God and learned this: His higher, better ways replace our mediocre, average ways.

We often hold on to our agenda as we attempt to follow Jesus. We don’t want to surrender because we are convinced that our limited vision and wisdom exceeds God’s boundless and foolproof strategy. Our full surrender to Jesus usually boils down to one question:

How much will be required of me?

And the answer is simple. Everything.

Want to know how to follow Jesus, there's something you have to ask yourself...

What or who are you following? We all follow something or someone. It may be a person's teachings, a family legacy, or a spiritual philosophy. Our devotion lies somewhere; we just have to admit where that is.

As Christ followers, the Someone we are to follow is Jesus. But often we get confused about what that really means for us here on earth. Let’s dive into it!

Have you ever considered that maybe the purpose behind the wait, behind the pain, is your transformation? It’s a hard truth to swallow. Sometimes I’d rather trade slow and transformational for easy and immediate. But when I ask for things too quickly, it’s likely God shakes His head and thinks, just wait. My plans are so much better. It’s in this unseen work where we are transformed, healed and, ultimately, made new. God cares about our character, and it’s often in the midst of the waiting where He does His best character-building.

Why do we often fail to praise the Lord? Because we forget His benefits. One of the evils of the human psyche (the soul and the mind) is that we tend to forget the good things and remember the bad things. Some people can receive a hundred compliments, “You look great. You look beautiful. You are so smart.” But if one time they get, “You are a loser,” that will stick. We are tempted to remember the bad instead of the good.

If your mind is centered on the blessings and mercies you receive, you will be a happier person. But if you are centered on the injustices that you have received you will soon become a bitter person.

What is the antidote for forgetfulness? You must preach to yourself frequently—every week, almost every day.

Have you ever received a love letter? If you have, you probably read it carefully. Maybe a couple of times,to be able to extract all the meaning that may be hidden in its word. When you were reading it, chances are you weren't rushed. You were not reading it superficially, instead you were paying close attention to every single word.

In the same way, the bible is a love letter from God to us where he reveals his heart, and the more we read it in an attentive, frequent and reflective way, the more we will know His heart and His intentions of love towards us.

Is happiness really the greatest good in the world? Statements like “Happy wife, happy life” and “The ultimate goal of life is the pursuit of happiness” have been staples in our society for as long as I can remember. But is that what God’s main priority for our lives is—to just be happy?