The Best Advice I Never Got When I Needed It Most

For scripture to back this up, Read Psalm 37
Proverbs 3 
and John 15: 7& 8

I'm going to show you a list. As you read the list, guess what these things have in common:

Talking disrespectfully to parents and others

getting drunk

swearing

having sex outside of marriage

lying

being angry, resentful or unforgiving

stealing or cheating

I could go on with the list, but I think you already know what they have in common. They are a list of things people do that God does not approve of. You will find in the Bible many verses that warn of the consequences we face when making the decisions above.

In my early twenties, I was guilty of doing three of the above listed offenses on a regular basis. And I have often said that my early twenties were the worst years of my life. I believe there's a reason for this. You see, there's a simple principle to life that many people ignore. And it is this: Our actions and behavior affect our happiness and the things that happen to us.

In my early twenties I was pretty miserable. I wish someone would have told me that my misery was self-inflicted. The choices I made and the way I was behaving were the reason for my misery. If I had chosen to live according to God's rules, my life would have been completely different. I would have been blessed by God instead of cursed.

You may think cursed is a harsh word, but that's exactly how I felt in my early twenties. Nothing good happened to me. I was always struggling financially. I felt lonely. Nothing came easily to me. Everything was a constant struggle. I wasn't living a godly life, so I didn't have God's help, guidance, or blessings.

It's been about thirty years since I was in my early twenties, living life on my own terms and not caring about God or why he created me. Not caring about living the way God wanted me to live. Not caring about how I treated people. Thinking only of myself and doing whatever I wanted to do. Everyone else saw how messed up I was back then, but I didn't see it until many years later.

It wasn't until I started living right that I realized how rich and rewarding life can be. I still have struggles, but I'm not lonely anymore. Good things happen to me all the time. Wonderful blessings fall in my lap unexpectedly. God has blessed me with work that I enjoy. He's given me financial stability, although I'm far from rich. My emotions aren't up and down anymore, I have peace. I'm dealing with a body that's getting older, but I wouldn't go back to 23 and all its misery for anything.

Sometimes you just want to shake people and say, “The reason your life is a mess is because God has turned you over to yourself. He's not helping you. You rejected Him over and over again and now you are living without His blessings, without His guidance, and without the love and joy He wants to bring you.”

I wish someone would have shaken me in my early twenties. Maybe someone wanted to shake me, but they were afraid I might hate them. They didn't have the courage to risk my resentment for the greater good of saving me from my miserable self. What could someone have said to me that might have changed my life? What words could have motivated me to change? Perhaps these words:

"There's no better way to prove that God exists than to give Him a chance to show you the changed life you will have when you begin to live on His terms. Stop swearing. Stop getting drunk. Stop having sex outside of marriage. Stop lying and cheating. Stop saying and doing mean things to people and start loving them. Forgive those who have hurt you, so you can be free of the hatred you feel. So you don't walk around sounding like an angry, miserable grouch...

Our lives on this earth pass by quickly. Some day, maybe sooner than you think, you will discover what lies beyond the grave. I can't prove that God exists. I can only tell you the difference He's made in my life. And that's more evidence than you can give me to deny His existence. Whether you believe in God or not, His existence is already determined. He won't go away because you don't believe...

Why people don't have more fear of God is a mystery to me. Why they choose to make the same mistakes over and over without learning from them is something that baffles me. When are you going to learn that your life is a mess because you reject God and you are doing and saying things that may please you, but it doesn't please Him. That is why you suffer. That is why unhappiness and depression follow you everywhere."

These are the words that I wish someone would have told me in my early twenties. I can only wonder about the difference that advice might have made. Life is not about me. Life is about pleasing God, and there is great reward in making that one decision. But you will never experience the rewards until you get close to God and live the way He wants you to live.