Rick Warren's Blog, page 527

Love Others the Way God Loves You

The same love that God gives to you, he wants you to offer to everybody else that you come in contact with. It���s not an option or a suggestion. It���s a command from Jesus himself: ���Now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other��� (John 13:34 NLT).

What Does God Think of You?

If you don���t feel loved by God, you���re certainly not going to offer love to anybody else. It is impossible to be a loving person unless you understand and remember the way God loves you.

Three Steps to Surrender, and Eight Results

The Bible says in 1 John 4:18, ���Where God���s love is, there is no fear, because God���s perfect love drives out fear��� (NCV).

So how do you learn to live in God���s love so that you can live free of fear?

Every day, you have to surrender your heart to God.

Direct Your Emotions Toward a Positive Ministry

If you want to succeed in life, you must learn how to master your moods. When you���re dealing with an emotion that���s holding you back, you���ve got two options: You either change it, or you direct it.

Three Questions to Manage Your Emotions

The Bible says in 1 Peter 4:2, ���From now on, then, you must live the rest of your earthly lives controlled by God���s will and not by human desires������ (GNT).

What are human desires? They���re your emotions and your affections. Once you become a Christ-follower, your life should be controlled by God���s will, not by how you feel.

How to Deal with What You Feel

Learning to manage your emotions is the key to peace of mind. I want to share with you four important reasons from God���s Word why you need to learn to deal with what you feel.

God Wants an Emotional Relationship with You

The Bible says in Mark 12:29-30, ���The most important commandment is this: . . . ���You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength������ (NLT).

Do you hear the emotion in these words from Jesus? He���s saying he doesn���t want you to just kind of love him. He wants you to love him passionately ��� with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. God doesn���t want your head knowledge; he wants an emotional relationship with you.

Focus Your Mind on the Right Things

For mental health, you must focus your mind on the right things ��� including these three specific things.

How to Fight the Enemies of Good Intentions

The reason why most people are ineffective in life is that they���ve never learned how to fight the battle of the mind.

If you want to learn to manage your mind, you have to deliver it from destructive thoughts. That isn���t easy, because there are three enemies that strive to keep you from fulfilling all your good intentions of changing your life.

Get the Best Information to Live Your Best Life

If you want to have a healthy mind, you must feed your mind with truth.

We all know the importance of nutrition. Good food and good calories make you stronger and healthier and give you more energy. Bad calories and junk food harm your body. A similar principle is true in your thought life: You must feed your mind not with junk or poison but with truth.