December 16 We’re Bound Together By Love…

Affirmation: I allow myself to love who I AM…not who I should be.

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Ponder, Personalize, Practice: These 11 words give us further direction from God. The 2 most important things we can do to honor and serve God are to love Him with all our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Ponder these commands today and memorize these 11 words. Begin your conversation with God.

“And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭22‬:‭39‬ ‭NIV‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.22.39.NIV

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Wholehearted Guidepost from Brené Brown Cultivate Laughter, Song and Dance. Let Go of Cool and Being in Control.

YOUR AUTHENTICITY PLAYLIST

To encourage us to sing, dance and laugh, we are going to create our respective "authenticity playlists." The songs on your playlist may have deep meaning for you but also help you let go, have fun and get moving. 

RECOMMENDED MATERIALS

Your journal and crayons, markers, watercolors, cutout shapes, double-sided tape and/or any other art materials you might want to use to decorate your pages. 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. For this creative assignment, each of us will create an authenticity playlist of five songs as well as an album cover. Find two blank, facing pages in your journal. The page on the left will be your album cover, and the page on the right will be your playlist.

2. On the right page, create a list (numbered to five) or decorate your page with five cutout shapes. Label each with one of these five categories: (1) a song that lifts you up, (2) a song that you love to dance to, (3) a song you want to sing along to, (4) a song to get you through tough times and (5) a feisty song. Now, pick one song that authentically speaks to you for each category.

3. Don't be afraid to listen to them while you're doing this, €”and dance, sing and laugh a little!

4. On the left page, use photos, markers, paint, collage shapes, stamps and/or any other art supplies to create an album cover for your playlist.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy, by Barbara Ehrenreich

Jacque’s Playlist: Lift Up Song: I Could Not Ask for More by Sara Evans

Dance Song: Have I Told You Lately That I Love You by Van Morrison 

Sing Along: She’s A Brick House by Commodores

Feisty Song: This is My Fight Song-by Rachel Platt

Tough Times: It Is Well With My Soul or When I Don’t Know What to Do by Tommy Walker

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Mastering the 7 Decisions from Andy Andrews 

The Joyful Decision 

5. TODAY I WILL CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY.

Happiness is a choice. I am enthusiastic about each day. I am alert to its possibilities.

I will become the master of my emotions.

I will greet each day with laughter. I know that enthusiasm is the fuel that moves the world.

The world belongs to the enthusiastic, for people will follow them anywhere! My smile has become my calling card. It is, after all, the most important weapon I possess. I am the possessor of a grateful spirit. 

Joyful Decision

Today, I choose to be happy.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

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Reading for Today

Walk in Grace. Live in Love. by Bob Goff

December 16

We’re Bound Together by Love, Not a Bunch of Opinions.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.  1 John 4:16

When some buddies and I first started getting together for Bible Doing a few decades ago, we didn’t know exactly where it would lead. We have been in Bible studies for years, and those were predictable, and honestly very uninspiring. It felt a lot more like school or a self-help group than the life changing adventure Jesus invited his friends into. It was predictable because it was familiar.

A few years into our Bible Doing, we felt like family. We got together every week and read the teachings of Jesus for a while. Then we went out and did what he said to do together. We probably didn’t agree on every controversial issue, but our group wasn’t about agreeing on everything. It was about loving people together. We found our love for one another went deeper as we joined together in loving other people.

Sometimes it is implied that you need to think like a group to be considered part of it. You have to go through classes about doctrine and sign statements of agreement in order to belong. But Jesus didn’t walk by fishermen and say, “Drop your nets, and come away to agree with Me.“ He told them to drop their net and follow Him. He invited them to join Him in scheming ways to spread love across the globe.

We are bound together by love, not a bunch of opinions. Don’t waste your time trying to convince people to agree with you. Band together in spreading love instead, and you will find that arguments that can tear us apart don’t matter that much anymore.

How can you build deeper bonds with people in your life by loving others?