Passionate Living

"If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles"- Matthew 5:41 (NIV).

Sarah Palin said, "Today, push yourself! Exhaust yourself. There is great joy in finding out what you're made of! God blesses your effort, especially if you go the extra mile." We hear we are to give our personal best, but it comes at a price. We have to draw upon self-discipline, perseverance, endurance, and inner strength. No one can help us with this. We have a power source from the Holy Spirit within us, but He is not going to make us keep going. He will empower us, but only if we move forward. That extra mile does not come easy, but a day finished well is a victory and a personal testimony to the faithfulness and strength of the Holy Spirit working within us. Margaret Thatcher said, "Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do and you've done it." You even find yourself listing off what you've accomplished through your suffering that day. Listen to what the tireless Apostle Paul had to say: "We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, Who has been given to us" (Romans 5:3-4). Find out what you're made of; let your day be a day of passionate living. God will bless you for going the extra mile.