Category: Tĩnh nguyện

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“I do not run without a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something—not just the air.” 1 Corinthians 9:26 (NCV)

Without goals, you cannot expect to be any different this year than you were last year. The default in your life will always be more of the same.

Long-term goals keep us moving toward our purpose and keep us from being discouraged by short-term setbacks.

We all have setbacks. You deal with them every day, but those setbacks won’t slow you down if your focus is on something you’re trying to achieve down the road. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 9:26, “I do not run without a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something—not just the air” (NCV).

You don’t want to spend the next year hitting the air. But just setting goals isn’t the answer. God doesn’t appreciate every goal you set!

These are the kinds of goals that God blesses:

Goals that bring God honor: The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (NIV).If you’ve got the right motivation, anything can be done for God’s glory.

Goals that are motivated by love: God is far more interested in why you’re doing something than what you’re actually doing. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 16:14,“Do everything with love” (NLT).

Goals that fulfill one of God’s purposes for your life: God put you on Earth to do five things: worship him, be a part of his family, become like Christ, serve him, and share your life message. If your goals help you fulfill one of these purposes, then God will bless them.

Goals that are set in faith: Your goals must be big enough that they’ll require God’s help to fulfill. The Bible says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6 NIV).

Goals that are achieved by God’s power: You will not stick to your goals without God’s power. You won’t get healthy on your own. You won’t improve your marriage on your own. The goals that really matter in life can only be achieved with God’s power, not your own.

Take a look at the goals you’ve set for the future. Are they the kind of goals that God blesses?

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“According to your faith let it be done to you.” Matthew 9:29 (NIV)

Godly goals are set through faith. The Bible says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6 NIV). If you want the goals you set to be pleasing to God, then you need to set goals that require faith.

In other words, you must set goals that are too big for you to reach on your own. Godly goals stretch and grow your faith.

When you set and trust God for a big goal, God will work in a big way—and you’ll see your faith grow in a big way. On the other hand, if you state a small goal, then you may not get to see God work in the big ways he wants to and has planned to in your life.

Godly goals stretch your faith. They affirm that you trust God, but they are also statements of how much you trust God. The Bible says, “According to your faith let it be done to you” (Matthew 9:29 NIV).

When you don’t set goals, then your goal is basically to stay the same. And, as a result, your faith will stay the same too.

See how this works:

When I ask you, “What’s your goal for your health?” and you say, “I don’t have one,” then your goal is to stay the same.

When I ask you, “What’s your goal in your relationships?” and you say, “I don’t have one,” then your goal is for them not to get any better.

When I ask you, “What’s your goal for getting out of debt?” and you say, “I don’t have one,” then your goal is to stay in debt.

When I ask you, “What’s your goal for your career?” and you say, “I don’t have one,” then your goal is to just drift along.

Goals are a spiritual discipline. They challenge your faith. They develop your character. And they build your hope.

You haven’t believed God until you’ve attempted to do something that can’t be done without his power at work in your life. Godly goals require you to remain dependent on Jesus. And that makes your faith strong!

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful.” Proverbs 28:13 (TLB)

We usually think of failure as negative. But wise people know how to take advantage of failure. They learn from it. They use it as an education.

One of your purposes in life is to become more like Jesus Christ. And one of the primary tools that God uses in your life to make you what he wants you to be is failure.

How can failure be good?

1. God uses failure to educate us. Mistakes are simply learning experiences. And some lessons can only be learned through failure. The Bible says, “A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful” (Proverbs 28:13 TLB).

If you’re not making any mistakes, then you’re not learning. If you’re not taking any risks, then you’re not growing. You have to let go of your fear of failure, because it’s keeping you from the kind of spiritual growth God planned for you. The freedom from the fear of failure is the freedom to grow.

2. God uses failure to motivate us. “Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways” (Proverbs 20:30 GNT). Often we change when we feel the heat, not when we see the light. If you’re afraid of failure, then you’re going to get stuck! When you fail, God may be trying to get your attention to move you in a new direction.

3. God uses failure to build our character. “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character” (Romans 5:3-4 TLB).

Failure has a way of softening our hearts. It helps us grow up and be mature. It makes us sensitive to others. It makes us less judgmental and helps us be a little more sympathetic to people around us who are hurting.

Failure doesn’t automatically grow your character. Sometimes it just makes people bitter. Failure only builds your character when you look at it with the right perspective, respond to it correctly, and learn from it.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“No matter how often honest people fall, they always get up again.” Proverbs 24:16 (GNT)

Never forget this truth: Failure probably won’t kill you.

We vastly exaggerate the effects of failure. We blow the prospects of failing all out of proportion. Failing is not the end of the world. The fear of failure is far more damaging than failure itself.

Proverbs 24:16 says, “No matter how often honest people fall, they always get up again” (GNT). Even “good” people stumble. They make mistakes, mess up, and fail.

Successful people are not people who never fail. They’re people who get up and keep going. Successful people just don’t know how to quit!

Have you ever heard of these famous failures?

George Washington lost two-thirds of all the battles he fought. But he won the Revolutionary War and later became the first U.S. president.

Napoleon graduated 42nd in a class of 43. Then he went out and conquered Europe.

In 21 years, Babe Ruth hit 714 home runs, but he struck out 1,330 times. He struck out nearly twice as often as he hit a home run.

The famous novelist John Creasey received 753 rejection letters before he published 564 books.

Rowland Hussey Macy failed seven times at retailing before starting Macy’s department store.

Great people are simply ordinary people who have an extraordinary amount of determination. They just keep on going. They realize they’re never a failure until they quit.

That’s how you reduce your fear of failure. You redefine it.

You don’t fail by not reaching a specific goal. Instead, failure is not having a goal. Failure is refusing to get back up again once you fall. It’s refusing to try.

On the first day of kindergarten, I got in the wrong line and then into the wrong classroom. Can you imagine me going home to my mom and dad and saying, “I’m a failure at education! This school thing just doesn’t work”? Of course not. Even as a young child, I learned from my mistake and did better the next day.

When you fail, keep going. If at first you don’t succeed, it’s no big deal. You’re never a failure when you don’t give up.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“He did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.” 2 Corinthians 1:10 (NLT)

Sometimes the fears in your life can be loud, demanding your attention. But you can trust that God is with you and for you and is more powerful than whatever you’re afraid of.

When the apostle Paul was in a frightening situation, he chose to trust God instead of giving in to his fear. When he did, here’s what he found to be true about God: “He did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us” (2 Corinthians 1:10 NLT).

You have a choice just like Paul did. Choose to believe God is watching over you. Choose to trust him. And choose not to give in to your fears.

God promises believers that, no matter what happens to us, he is working for our good—if we love him and follow him: “Now we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28 TLV). If you’re a believer, God promises all things are working together for good—not that all things are good but that they are working together for good.

That means you can stop listening to your fears because there is no difficulty, dilemma, defeat, or disaster in the life of a believer that God can’t ultimately get some good out of. There is no need to fear the future.

Your fears reveal where you do not trust God. So, today, make a list of your fears and ask God to help you identify the reason you have them. Then ask him to help you replace your fears with trust.

Now, this is important: Expect God to start helping you learn to trust him with each fear. Then, watch to see how he does help you.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“God knows what we are made of; he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14 GNT).

Your failures don’t surprise God. He expects them. He knows what we’re made of—because he created us.

The Bible says, “God knows what we are made of; he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14 GNT).

God won’t stop loving us when we mess up. The central message of the Bible is this: God doesn’t love you because of who you are or what you’ve done but because of who he is and what he has done. God made you. He loves you. It’s settled! You can’t make God love you more. You can’t make him love you less. He loves you just as much on your bad days as he does on your good days. His love is not performance based.

The Bible has a word for this. It’s called grace—and it’s absolutely amazing. God looks down and says, “I choose to love you. And you can’t make me stop loving you.” Even when we’re ridiculously bad, God won’t stop loving us. It truly is amazing grace. When you understand his grace, you can relax about your failures and have the confidence to take more risks.

You may have come to God multiple times for forgiveness on the same issue. Maybe you’re not sure you deserve his love and grace. And you’re sure that God has grown tired of your constant efforts at change.

But you can relax. God never tires of a conversation with you. He’s never too busy. No matter how many times you come to him for forgiveness, he’ll be waiting with open arms.

You may have grown up in a home where conditional love was the norm. Your parents’ affections may have been based on your academic, athletic, or social successes. When you failed in one of those areas, you felt the loss of your family’s love.

Relax. That’s not how God deals with you.

The Bible says, “[God] canceled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14 NCV).

The Christian life isn’t a mistake-free life, but it can be a guilt-free life. God understands your failures, and he loves you anyway.

That’s amazing grace!

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“[God] canceled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross.”

Colossians 2:14 (NCV)

We all mess up from time to time. We all make mistakes! We don’t have to live with guilt, because the Bible says, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 NIV). But we do have to live with our mistakes.

The Bible never hides this truth. It is painfully honest about the failures of its heroes. God saved the world from flood through a man named Noah—who then got drunk and naked and ruined it all. Moses led the children of Israel through the Red Sea and into freedom—yet his anger kept him out of the Promised Land. King David was a man after God’s heart—but he also had an affair and murdered the woman’s husband so he wouldn’t be discovered.

God realizes our frailty. If he only used perfect people, the Bible would be a pretty short book! But God does not leave us alone in our sin. He has a solution for our failures: grace.

The Bible says, “[God] canceled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14 NCV).

In fact, when you look at all those failures in the Bible, you get a clear picture. We can be amazed at how God used those people to accomplish his purposes in big ways. But what is most encouraging is that he used them in spite of their failures and mistakes.

Just like those heroes of the Bible, you and I are trophies of God’s grace.

Your primary witness to the world around you is not all the great things you do for God. Your most important witness will be how you handle mistakes you’ve made. Do you mope about your failures, or do you revel in the grace of God?

People want to meet a God who turns failures into triumphs. They want to know a God who can transform the lives of broken people.

The amazing part of God’s grace isn’t just his power to forgive. It’s also the strength and renewal he gives us when we choose to start over and trust in him to help us keep going.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. “ 1Corinthians 13:7 (NIV)

Jesus believes in you. There is plenty of proof in the Bible!

“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20 NIV).

“Everything is possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23 NIV).

“If you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more” (Matthew 21:21 TLB).

Jesus believes you can do great things because when you place your trust in him, his Spirit lives inside you. He also wants you to help others believe this about themselves. The apostle Paul offered this encouragement: “I want us to help each other with the faith we have. Your faith will help me, and my faith will help you” (Romans 1:12 NCV).

Each day you encounter people with low self-esteem. Everybody has insecurities. And many people are repeatedly playing a tape in their mind of how someone said to them long ago that they wouldn’t amount to anything.

How can people reverse that curse? You can help them start believing what Jesus says about them instead of believing what other people say.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:7, “If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him” (TLB).

That’s what God wants you to do. He wants you to show faith in others so they can believe what God says about them.

One of the best ways we do this in the church is by being part of a small group. When you have a really tough week and you’re doubting and down and discouraged, you need a group of trusted people who will believe for you. And you can do the same for them! Followers of Jesus don’t just believe in Christ. We also believe in each other.

Your faith can help grow the faith of others as you believe in them like Jesus believes in you.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”

Romans 15:7 (NIV)

What God does for you, he wants you to do for other people.

God accepts you unconditionally. That doesn’t mean he approves of everything you do, but he accepts you, no matter what you’ve done. And God says he wants you to act similarly toward everybody in your life.

One of the ways you demonstrate acceptance to someone else is to look at them and listen to them. When you look someone in the eye, you’re declaring that they matter to you. The highest form of love is focused attention.

Love looks, and love listens. What about you—do you look and listen? When someone at work drops something off at your desk, do you say anything to them? When somebody serves you at a restaurant or a clerk helps you in a grocery store, do you look them in the eye and say, “Thank you”? It may seem like a small thing. But when you give someone your attention, even for just a moment, you affirm their value as a person and show that you accept them.

The Bible says in Romans 15:1, “We must bear the ‘burden’ of being considerate of the doubts and fears of others” (TLB).

We all have fears and doubts. Acceptance means you listen to others’ fears and doubts. When people have doubts about God, you need to first listen and show that it doesn’t change your love or acceptance. Why? Because this is how God loves us.

When we doubt, God’s love does not change. When we are fearful and unwilling to trust, God still accepts us. This is how he wants us to love other people.

Loving like Jesus means you accept other people the way Jesus accepts you. And when his love flows through you, it’s possible for you to love others unconditionally.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Many of the people scolded him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’”  Mark 10:48 (GNT)

If you’re going to make a fresh start with faith in your life, you need to face your fears. Don’t let them control you! Fear has an incredible ability to paralyze our potential—to keep us from launching out and having faith in our lives.

When we choose fear over faith, it makes us skeptical—we’re afraid of trying anything new. It makes us selfish—we’re afraid to commit to God and to others. It makes us short-sighted—we focus on the past and not on the future.

A man named Bartimaeus faced a fear that is familiar to many of us: the fear of rejection. He was blind and wanted to be healed. He knew that to shout out to Jesus over the crowd wasn’t the right thing to do. He knew that people would look down on him for it, but he was desperate. And he knew that Jesus Christ was the only one who could help him.

So he got Jesus’ attention. The Bible says, “Many of the people scolded him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’” (Mark 10:48 GNT).

And look what happened: When he shouted out to Jesus, everyone around him told him, “Don’t do that. Be quiet. Don’t make a scene. Surely Jesus Christ isn’t interested in you. He has more important things to do.”

The devil whispers things like that to a lot of us. When an opportunity for faith comes into our hearts, thoughts like, “God surely wouldn’t be interested in me” or “Don’t make a scene” or “What would people think of me?” keep us from having faith. When you see an opportunity to change, there are all kinds of shouts from inside and around you that tell you not to rock the boat.

But God is asking you to do something greater than you’ve ever done before: He’s asking you to depend on him completely. Don’t you think that’s going to feel a little bit scary? Of course it is.

When God asks something of you, you have a choice. Are you going to fall back on your fear and stay the way you are? Or are you going to tame your fear and step forward in faith?