Perseverance = Hope

“We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” Romans 5:3-5

Verse Reflections:  If life was easy we wouldn’t grow, we wouldn’t improve, we wouldn’t depend on God.  We wouldn’t even need hope.  We have tried and tried to lose weight, to eat right and we have failed.  However, whatever suffering you have encountered this verse is telling us to persevere!  Today, we wake up and we persevere no matter what happens.  Our character is changing every second of every minute of every day.  Today we get the privilege of choosing to be better than yesterday.  The crazy part of this life is sometimes the “bad” or “hard” things that we encounter are the ones that change us the most and we get to choose to use them to change them for the better.  Some days all we can do is get up and put one foot in front of the other but we can get up and put one foot in front of the other.  We can persevere.  We can hope.  “God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”  Feel that heart, feel that love, cling to the hope of change.  Today we are not only going to persevere we are going to hope.  We are not only going to hope, we going to change.  As Dr. Phil says, “Next year will come whether you make changes or not.”  Every day is an investment in next year.  Every day is an investment in you, in the beautiful vessel that God has created.  Today eat pure, beautiful foods that He created.  Invest in your health.  Persevere even when it isn’t easy.  Hope does not disappoint us because God has poured His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.  That little voice inside of you telling you to eat healthy is God’s love.  We have to retrain ourselves to listen to our hearts, not our head.  God wants our bodies to be healthy, our minds to be healthy.  His love gives us a little voice in our hearts.  Listen to that voice today.  Listen to the holy spirit and eat God foods.

Prayer:  Lord this verse speaks to me on so many levels.  I have trained myself to look in the mirror and yell at myself inside my head because my body is not perfect and I did something the day before to contribute to the image.  I have to listen to Your love.  I have to have hope.  I have to claim this verse and not feel hopelessness which, of course, makes me eat more because, “why not, I’ve already blown it.”  I have to claim my character and build my character into one of strength.  Thank You God.  I have hope because You poured Your love into my heart.  Let me feel that love, let me hear Your Holy Spirit.  Let me order the beautiful, pure foods that You created for me.  Thank You for so many amazing flavors and tastes.  I love You.  Have a great day.  We are going to change today together.