If you will remind yourself at the start of every day that you are God’s servant, interruptions won’t frustrate you as much, because your agenda will be whatever God wants to bring into your life.

These seven steps are simple, but they are not easy. It takes a lot of effort to restore a relationship. That’s why Peter urged, “Work hard at living in peace with others.”26 But when you work for peace, you are doing what God would do. That’s why God calls peacemakers his children.27

Our culture says, “If you don’t own it, you won’t take care of it.” But Christians live by a higher standard: “Because God owns it, I must take the best care of it that I can.” The Bible says, “Those who are trusted with something valuable must show they are worthy of that trust.”

You were designed to worship God — and if you fail to worship him, you will create other things (idols) to give your life to.

Temptation begins by capturing your attention. What gets your attention arouses your emotions. Then your emotions activate your behavior, and you act on what you felt. The more you focus on “I don’t want to do this,” the stronger it draws you into its web.

God made you to love you, and he longs for you to love him back. He says, “I don’t want your sacrifices—I want your love; I don’t want your offerings—I want you to know me.”

The only way we can make this paradigm switch is by a moment-by-moment dependence on God.

The best use of your life is to serve God out of your shape.

In determining your shape for serving God, you should examine at least six kinds of experiences from your past: Family experiences: What did you learn growing up in your family? Educational experiences: What were your favorite subjects in school? Vocational experiences: What jobs have you been most effective in and enjoyed most? Spiritual