Daily Devotional

Then the whole community of Israelites began complaining again. They complained to Moses and Aaron in the desert. They said, “It would have been better if the LORD had just killed us in the land of Egypt. – Exodus 16:2 (ERV)

So, be honest with yourself. How much complaining do you do? Do you find yourself daily complaining about the amount of math homework you have, or perhaps how many chores your mom makes you do?

Do you find that it’s pretty easy to find things in your life that are going wrong, and to not choose to be thankful? If you do, you’re not alone. Most of us, if we’re honest, default to complaining instead of thankfulness.

We often complain about each little thing that isn’t going exactly the way we want in life. This is exactly what the children of Israel did in the desert. They complained.

And it can be easy to look at their lives and think, what do they have to complain about? God had just done some miracles in their lives, they were no longer slaves. Why in the world were they complaining?

But the truth is, we do it too. Even in the midst of the miracle God might be working in your life right now, you can probably find something to complain about. Maybe your teacher didn’t treat you right. Perhaps you didn’t get the job you wanted, the list could go on. And instead of remembering the ways God has moved in your life in the past, you get into complaining.

Just like the children of Israel did. Yes, they had seen God move, recently. However, they took their eyes off that, and looked at what they didn’t have right then and began to complain.

Life is never going to be perfect. So the key to being happy is simply to be thankful for how God has moved in your life. And don’t forget to be thankful for how He has brought you through.

Today’s Truth: Be thankful for how God has moved in your life in the past.

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. – Phil 3:12 (NLT)

I remember a time when I was mean to another kid at church. I wanted so badly for others to think I was funny that I didn’t even think about how it was going to make that kid feel. So I played a joke on this kid, and never took into account how badly it would make him feel.

After I made fun of the kid, I got in trouble with a teacher. Once I got caught, I felt really bad. From that time on, I realized how my actions could hurt other people and that I had made a mistake.

In life, we all make mistakes. There’s no way to stop that. We are going to have times when we make poor choices. In the end, however, what really matters is how you respond to your mistakes.

Your response to mistakes is important. You can choose to let mistakes stop you, or you can choose to let your mistakes make you better.

Today’s Truth: You get to choose whether mistakes stop you or make you better.

Mistakes can be a really good opportunity to learn. So today, determine that you aren’t going to let your mistakes stop you. Rather, choose to learn from your mistakes.

Decide to let your mistakes be teachers. Learn from them and get better!

A psalm of David. Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. – Psalm 37:1 (NLT)

Have you ever gotten frustrated at people who are doing bad things, but seem to have everything going for them? Has it ever made you question why you’re living for God? It can make you want to give up, let go of what you believe and start doing bad things too.

However, that’s not what today’s Bible verse tells us to do. Instead of just giving up, and questioning why you’re living for God, it tells us to not worry about those people. Don’t waste your time and energy on being frustrated with them. Doing this will wear you out and make you bitter.

The verse goes on to tell us that we also shouldn’t envy those who do wrong. We can see them having fun and doing things that seem so great and begin to envy those people. Being envious of others will never make you happy.

Today’s Challenge: Spend Time Getting to Know Jesus

God wants you free to live life to the fullest and enjoy it. He doesn’t want you spending your energy being upset about those doing wrong. Instead, we should be putting our energy into telling others about Jesus and getting to know Him more ourselves. So challenge yourself today to spend less time worrying about what others are doing and more time getting to know Jesus. You’ll find that you have more peace and are much happier!

or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. – 1 Corinthians 13:5 (NLT)

How would you feel if you played sports but no one kept score? And at the end of the game, you weren’t really sure who the winner was. That would be a pretty strange feeling, thinking maybe you won but not being entirely sure. In sports, we like to keep score and know who won.

However, in relationships keeping score isn’t always a good thing. You might keep track of how many times your friend borrows money and doesn’t pay you back. You might keep track of how many times you go out of your way to help your friend and your friend doesn’t return the favor. Or perhaps, you might keep track of all the times you friend said something unkind to you.

Keeping score in sports has a point, but keeping score in relationships will ruin your relationship. If you’re always recalling when someone did something wrong to you, you’ll never enjoy a relationship. You’ll be going from one relationship to another, always disappointed.

So if you have a habit of nursing wounds and keeping score in relationships you might consider the godly wisdom offered in today’s Bible verse. Choose to not pay attention to the things people have done to you and instead choose to love those around you with God’s love.

We love because He first loved us. – 1 John 4:19 (HSCB)

If you were honest, would you say you liked the person you are? Or are there some parts about yourself that you’d like to change?

Most of us would say there are things about us that we don’t really like that much. Maybe we compare ourselves to someone who is funnier than we are and feel like there’s something wrong with ourselves.

It’s easy to compare yourself with others and feel like you don’t really measure up.

Today’s Challenge: Learn to Like You

Today’s challenge is for you to learn to like who you are. A good place to start is by making a list of things you do well. Maybe you’re a good listener or a true friend. Grab a piece of paper or use notes on your phone and start writing out some things that you excel at.

Then take that list and put it somewhere that you will see it. Look at it each day and remind yourself that you have strengths and value. Those strengths might be different than others, but that’s ok. God made you the way you are for the specific call he has on your life.

Read More: I Am God’s Best

So today, if you’ve struggled with liking yourself, remind yourself of today’s Bible verse. God loved us before we loved Him. He loved us so much He was willing to risk everything to get to know you. You have value because God loves you. That will never change. So take comfort today knowing that you are loved!

When it comes to school work, I’m competitive. I like to work hard, do my best, and of course get the absolute best grades. So when it comes time to do a group project, I’m all in. I do my share plus extra, all to be sure to get the very best grade.

But sometimes, that attitude isn’t always the best. Of course, you should work hard and do well at school. However, sometimes, I work so hard that I forget to rest. I put in so much effort that I wear myself out. And often, I don’t rely enough on God. Instead, I look to myself to make things happen.

“‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord. – Leviticus 23:3 (NIV)

There comes a place in your journey with God that you reach when you realize that sometimes, it’s up to God. It’s up to you to do your part, but a lot of the effort comes from God. And for some of us (myself) that’s hard. It’s hard to trust that God is working and that I can simply rest.

The sabbath that God is talking about in Leviticus is an example of that. Through the sabbath, we see that God has set up a time for us to rest and trust Him. Yes, we can do a lot on our own, but sometimes, there’s power in simply resting and trusting God to do the work for us.

This is especially true when it comes to what Jesus has done for us. There is nothing left for us to do, but to rest in the finished work of Christ. And yes, it would be easier to do something. That’s our human nature, wanting to do something. However, we will really find power in rest.

So if you haven’t before examine your life. Are there areas that God is calling you to rest? To rely on Him and stop working so hard? If so, decide to make any changes necessary to relax, rest and enjoy watching God work on your behalf.

Today’s Truth: I can rest, knowing God is working on my behalf.