27 Pieces of Advice

With today marking my twenty-seventh birthday (shout out to my friend Angelina and C.S. Lewis for sharing the same birthday), I wanted to pass along twenty-seven pieces of advice that I've learned from over the years (not in any particular order)... And If I've learned anything in this short amount of time, it's that I still have a lot to learn.

1. Always be hungry to learn more. Whether that's reading more often than usual, getting your hands on more podcasts, taking a class, asking more questions, or simply looking at the situation you are currently in and what God can teach you from it.

2. Go out and be even more eager to share what you've learned with others.

3. When you make a mistake, own up to it, present a solution, and grow from it. Don't define yourself by it.

4. Getting away with the Lord is the most important part of your day. Choose a place, pick a time, and make this your priority. Spending an hour with God will fuel you more than that extra hour of sleep.

5. Approach reading the Bible with delight. Not just out of duty. Get excited about the opportunity you have to read God breathed scriptures that will teach you about who God is and who you are.

6. Create space to reflect. Look at the "why" behind what you are doing. Like... "Why am I really posting this?" Allow the Holy Spirit to question and convict your motives often.

7. Recognize the weight your tongue holds and ask God to help you control it. The same tongue that praises the Lord is capable of tearing down others. Make it a priority to encourage, build up, and pray for the people around you.

8. When life is really difficult, run to God before you run to things or people. He will give you true peace and true comfort. Remind yourself that this circumstance is not eternal but that Christ has overcome the world and will one day make all things right.

9. Don't put off confrontation too long. Humble yourself and mend disagreements with grace and truth as soon as possible.

10. Be the person who celebrates others genuinely, not the one who is stuck in comparison.

11. Don't get so caught up worrying about the future that you are unable to be fruitful in the present. Look around at where God has planted you and bring His name glory with what He has given you.

12. Recognize how dangerous the enslavement to other's approval can be. Don't sacrifice your relationship with God for something or someone who was not designed to be God.

13. Downtime is SO important. Say "no" often so that you can say "yes" to the important things. Trust me, missing out on some things is much more beneficial in the long run.

14. Learn to not take things personally. Be quick to extend grace before you are quick to judge.

15. Get accountable with a Godly leader. Be open and honest with them. Allow them to ask you hard questions, challenge you, and disciple you. God will speak through them and they will bring a lot of wisdom to the table. Don't just listen to their advice but also apply it.

16. Go to bed early and wake up early. (This my friends, is why I don't do well after 10pm.)

17. Don't expect to know everything or to always be right. Be teachable, allow God to humble and mold you.

18. Be consistent and present with your relationships. Listen more than you share.

19. Grasping that God is sovereign and His ways and thoughts are much higher than ours is BIG. If you can trust Him with your salvation, trust Him with your life.

20. Jesus came to serve not to be served. Glean from this example.

21. Chances are, the life you are living is the life someone else is longing to live, and once you find yourself where you want to be, you'll be longing for something different. Make sure that your contentment is rooted in Christ above all else.

22. Yes, it is important to invite people to church, but be more intentional with being the church to others before you bring them to a physical church.

23. Your definition has already been given to you through Christ, stop striving to attain it through your own accomplishments and/or man-made definitions.

24. Realize that this life is not your own, you were bought with a price. Praise God you belong to Him and have been given true freedom and life in Him! Live out your life in surrender to His will instead of your own.

25. Get rooted in your local church community. Surround yourself with people who can cry with you and make you laugh, like genuinely belly laugh, oh and good food. This is important.

26. Cling onto God tightly, hold onto good things loosely knowing that they will someday fade.

27. Preach the Gospel to yourself every-single-day and live out of response to it.