A Brand New Start

I want to take a moment and share some of my thoughts this morning. Amy and the kids are away at church, and I have been working on the house. I took a break to listen to Joel Osteen.

During his message, Joel told the story of George Forman. As a young man, George was thinking about skipping school. One of his relatives said, “Go ahead George, skip school. You are never going to amount to anything anyway. No one in this family ever has.” Not wanting to end up like everyone else in his family, George decided that instead of skipping school and heading down the wrong path, he was going to make something of himself. Soon after, he joined the job corp. While there, he found out they had boxing. He had never boxed before, but decided he wanted to try it. When he went to the practice, the coach discouraged him. He told him that since he had no experience, he was not going to waste his time on him. Feeling dejected, he turned to walk out. As he was leaving, an assistant coach stopped him and offered to train him. That assistant coach gave him a pair of boxing shoes, which was the first gift George had ever received. Although many people along his path tried to discourage him, one year later George Forman went to the Olympics and received the gold medal in boxing. He went on to become one of the greatest boxers in history.

So why did I recite that story? I think because I often hear the voices of discouragement in my life. Quite often those voices come from within, but sometimes they come from my environment. I’m sure we all hear the negative voices from time to time. They tell us, “you can’t,” and “you’re not smart enough.” Those voices are powerful. And if we let them take root in our lives, they will keep us from receiving God’s best.

It’s important to not allow those voices to take hold in our lives. Like George Forman, we have to decide in ourselves what direction we want our life to go. I’ve decided that instead of listening to those negative voices, I’m going to do my best to declare victory in my life. When I hear someone discouraging me, I’m not going to receive it. Instead, I’m going to declare God’s favor in my life. Joel Osteen says we should remember that we are children of “The Most High God,” and that God wants to bless our lives. I don’t always agree with everything Joel says, but I don’t think it would hurt for me to start believing for a bit more in my life; believing for a better direction in my life; believing for a better attitude; believing for God’s best. So, today is a new day, and a brand new start.