God will help us, obviously, but the process of renovating our character cannot take place without our active engagement and obedience. We must not only be willing to have our imperfections removed; we must exert ourselves in that direction.

When the words of the gospel are rejected, it is Jesus Himself who is being refused. So let us look at our situation with clear eyes: our eternal destiny hinges on our response to the person of Jesus Christ. How we respond to Him is the most important thing about us.

In a world of obstacles and temptations, we could not survive if it weren’t for the help God gives us in Christ. Peter wrote of those “who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5).

Believing is not a simple one-time decision after which we drift through life automatically. Faith is a soul-deep dependence on the Father who has loved us and saved us. To believe is not only to believe, but to take the risks that only trust will take.

We are tempted to preserve our flattering self-image with denials of the truth, but there is nothing but death in that cave. To be forgiven, we’re going to have to come out of hiding. In Jesus Christ there is life — but it is only in the light of truth that we can live.

If commitment, confession, and repentance are not a part of our daily walk with God, we need to go back and remember the “death” we died when we were baptized. If at that time we did not honestly decide to turn our backs on sin, we need to do so.

If the investments we make in our spiritual lives don’t require us to give up anything of real value to us, then they aren’t really investments, and the results won’t be worth very much. In the end, God’s value to us will be indicated by what we’ve exchanged for Him.

If we find ourselves frequently experiencing either anger or anxiety, it is probably time to ask ourselves whether it is really our Father whom we are seeking. We must have the honesty to admit how often emotions like these are the result of frustrated self-seeking.

The God who gave each of us our gifts has said, “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord.”

Jesus did not simply say that He taught the way to God — He claimed to be the way. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18).

The horrors that some have suffered in this world are truly profound. But compared to the glory, our sufferings are small. And not only that, but compared to the “eternal” nature of the glory, our sufferings are only “for a moment.”

The enemy has not so marred the world of God’s creation that there are not many fine treasures left: wonderful things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. These we must seek out and learn to enjoy reflecting on.

Even when the spirit is filled with strong love, the flesh is often too weak to carry out the will of the spirit. It needs to be trained. So we have to build into our daily lives a training regimen that progressively makes the flesh our servant, rather than our master.

We can’t live lives of constant self-indulgence and still get all the good benefits of self-denial. Spiritual strength comes at a price. There is no quick-fix trick or technique you can figure out that will let you have an easy life and still get the results of spiritual discipline.

Most of us focus too much of our attention on the passing pleasures and fleeting accomplishments of this world. But majoring in minors always turns out to be a losing proposition. No one can reach for “profit” in this world and not be disappointed at how unprofitable it is.

What is the point of this “vain” life? Solomon summed it up succinctly: “Respect and obey God! This is what life is all about” (Eccl. 12:13). Any way you translate it, the point is basic — only in reverence and obedience to God can we accomplish anything.

It would be the ultimate tragedy if we set our hearts on having (and never letting go of) any of the temporary blessings of God and lost out on all the permanent joys we could have had. Let’s not lose eternity by hanging on to what we have in this life.

Even if we aren’t suffering sickness, sorrow, or distress, we should still be able to say what the Psalmist said: “My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning — yes, more than those who watch for the morning.”