5 Ways to Improve Your Life

by Andrew Cromwell

If you’ve spent any time on social media sites recently, you know one of the most popular ways to write articles these days is to make them some kind of list. Whether it’s “Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Peanut Butter and Jelly” or “45 Uses for Egg Yolks that Will Change Your Life”, these articles somehow get us to click on them by promising us life-changing information. Here is my contribution to this oft-repeated genre in the hopes that you will not only “click” but that your life will in fact be changed for the better as you apply the information.

Proverbs is this incredible book of the Bible that contains incredible wisdom for daily living in bite sized pieces. In its pages you find keys for healthy relationships, an enduring love life (including a healthy sex life), and how to succeed in business among many other topics. In chapter three the author gives us six keys to having a long life filled with “peace and prosperity.” Everyone I know wants that kind of life!

Here’s how you get it:

1.    Don’t forget the essentials! The very first key to living the good life is never forgetting the essentials. Just like oreos without milk, life without the right playbook just ain't right! The Bible is that instruction manual for life handed down to us from holy men and women that walked closely with God. It describes to us the way we should live and tells us what things will destroy us and what things will build us up. It’s not enough just to know about the Bible, or even to know the Bible, the key is to actually live differently. That is what not forgetting actually means. It doesn’t do any good to know that the oil in your car needs to be changed every 3,000 miles unless you actually do it!


2.    Be kind and trustworthy to everyone. Do you want a good reputation? Would you like to be respected by others? In short, would you like people to like you? Stop being mean and stop making promises you don’t keep! Far too often we make the mistake of thinking the way to get respect is to demand it. Nope. The best way to get respect is to give it. Be the kind of person that people are attracted to -- and everyone is attracted to someone who is kind, considerate and does what they say they are going to do.

3.    Stay away from bad stuff. We underestimate what clean living can do for the entire course of our lives. We all know how it works. First, we’re curious, then we dabble, then we become fascinated, then obsessed and before you know it we’re hooked and we can’t get away. We do our best to keep things separated so that the “bad stuff” doesn’t interfere with the “good stuff” but we can only keep the plates spinning for a little while before it all comes crashing down.

4.    Give back to God. Every day we make choices of how to spend our money. We pay the mortgage or rent, we pay the credit card bill, we go out to dinner and the movies, and so much more. If we’re not careful, we find that every dime that we spend is on us and our family. There is something incredible that happens when we choose to give a part of what we earn to God. It requires us to prioritize and it reminds us that we are not first -- He is. Don’t underestimate the power in that practically, but it also does something spiritually as well because it opens the door for God to go to work in the area of our finances (and some of us really need that!).

5.    Take it on the chin. Like any good parent, God too sometimes needs to set us straight. When my children start to behave in a way that is going to result in damage to themselves or someone else, I step in. They don’t generally like it, but it saves them from hurt. And on the rare occasions when they recognize that they have done wrong and they actually receive the correction instead of resisting it, they move from just being punished to actually learning something. When God corrects us, He does it because He loves us. Stop being mad at Him for trying to help you out!

Living by these five principles has the power to change your life. Check out Proverbs 3 for yourself and see the other incredible wisdom you can find.