Ten Ways to be a Better Person
Providing suggestions on living a better spiritual live.
Dan
12/23/2023
Life is hard. Sometimes it is just easier to be grumpy and not care about others. Other times, we get so busy with our “responsibilities” that we forget to be a good person. God calls upon us to be better. Even small gestures help! Here are ten ways to help you live a better life.
1. Be Grateful
2. Stop Judging Others
3. Be Kind to Others
4. Practice Humility
5. Forgive Others
6. Forgive Yourself/Repent
7. Read the Bible
8. Pray
9. Take Care of Yourself
10. Ask for Help
Be Grateful
My first suggestion starts internally. You can do it whether you are driving to work or when you are in the bathroom in the morning. Be grateful for the good things in your life. Really think about your life and what you have:
Do you have a loving spouse that looks out for you? Are they there for you when you need it?
Do you have well behaved children? I know kids can try your patience, but don’t let that skew your view.
Do you have a reliable means of getting to work each day? Notice, I did not ask if you have a corvette. It is your right to have one if that is your thing. But any car or good public transportation system works.
Do you have a way to pay your bills? You may not have a lot left over, but even just being warm and having a meal are luxuries to some people.
Are you healthy? My Dad always said that if you don’t have your health, then you don’t have anything. As I get older, I understand this saying better.
If you are able to say yes to these questions, then thank God. It costs you nothing, takes no time, and you will feel better. He will appreciate it.
Stop Judging Others
Here is another free option. It costs you no time or money. Stop judging other people. God gave everyone freewill so who are we to take that away? Jesus reiterates this when he says that anyone without sin may cast the first stone. It is easy for us to speak against others. But have you been on the receiving end of judgment? I know I have and I still have the scars.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/John-8-7/
I have been overweight most of my life. Kids picked on me about it. It made me feel really self conscious. It kept me from going out for sports because I always felt like I wasn't good enough. I sometimes didn’t wanted to play with others because I feel like I wasn’t good enough for them. I have learned to deal with it over the years by growing a thick skin, but it still affects me a little bit.
One important thing to remember is that your thoughts are important also. God judges us not only by our actions but what is in our heart as well. In addition, we do not know what is going on with the other person. Maybe they're having a bad day. Maybe they have just lost someone special to them. We need to learn to give others a little grace.
Be Kind to Others
My third suggestion is to be kind to others. This is the famous golden rule. Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself. Show other people kindness. It does not have to be a grand gesture. One great way to do this is simply to smile. A smile is infectious and can spread. Your one gesture could affect multiple people.
You can also take this a step further. Compliment someone today. When you stop by the gas station in the morning and the checkout person smiles at you, tell them they have a great smile. If you receive good service at a restaurant, don’t just tip. Let their manager know how good the server was. In this case, you not only make the server happy, but the manager as well. As a former restaurant manager myself, I always appreciated when customers said something.
Practice Humility
If you are somehow unfamiliar with pride, go listen to the ZZ Top song “Sharp Dressed Man”. Every guy can relate to it on some level. We don’t like to admit it, but most of us do love dressing up like that on special occasions. You walk into the room and people look your way. People treat you better. It does feel good. And yes, I do love that song!
But pride isn’t about dressing “sharp”. Pride goes further than that. The simple act of feeling good about yourself is not what makes pride a sin. Pride comes into the picture when you have an overly high opinion of yourself. Pride comes in when you have to appear better than others. It is the feeling you get when you listen to the song and picture yourself in the video.
We are not to place ourselves or our skills above others. We are not supposed to flaunt our wealth or try and make others feel inferior to us. God wants us to humble ourselves and put others first. We should help others to grow and be better versions of themselves. We are called to serve others.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Jeremiah-9-23/
Forgive Others
Everyone screws up, but dwelling on the mistake does no one any good. Holding onto anger or frustration is also useless. In fact, it can be harmful. A quick google search can show you the long term effects of chronic anger which include a weakened immune system, digestive issues and even heart disease. You can not control what other people say and think. Stop Trying!
Instead, God wants you to forgive them. Let go of the anger. Be grateful for the friends and family in your life instead. If that does not help, go and pray. Find a way to free up your attention and turn it towards something better.
The golden rule is also important to remember. God tells us that we should do onto others as we want others to do onto us. This also applies to forgiveness. If we want people to forgive us, then we need to grant forgiveness as well.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew-6-14_6-15/
Forgive Yourself/Repent
The same can be said about yourself. We are not perfect. We mess up from time to time. We can not continually punish ourselves for our mistakes.
I have a hard time following my own advice in this area. Some researcher will want a piece of software installed. I will fight with it for a while and get discouraged. “Why can’t I figure this out?”, I will say to myself. I beat myself up continually. Being negative does not help though.
The same goes for sin. God understands that we will sin. He knows that Satan will tempt us and that he will succeed from time to time. But God provides us with a way out. If we repent and are truly sorry for our mistake, God forgives us. The important thing is that we must stride to be better. Eventually, it will make a difference.
Read the Bible
I was standing in a bookstore looking to begin my spiritual journey again. None of the books in the religious section seemed to pop out to me. I turned to the lady next to me and asked her if she had any recommendations. She said that when she is lost, she turns to the bible.
I did not want to. Let’s face it. The bible is not always the easiest to understand. I did not want to fight with interpreting the text. But while other books can help us understand the bible, we need to read from the source itself.
My recommendation is to find an online bible. I sit at a computer and read the King James Bible online. Links to it are all over this article. The site is wonderful. I read one chapter each day so it may take me a month to get through a book like Matthew. Each chapter only takes 10 minutes or so to read. Once I am done, I think through what I read. If I need assistance, there are commentaries and discussions on the site to help.
Pray
Talk to God. Ask Him for help and understanding. You can simply take a few moments to ask for strength or formally knell down and say the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer can be found in Matthew 6:9-13.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew-Chapter-6/
It is doubtful that a burning bush will appear or that you will hear a booming voice coming from heaven. However, if you open your heart and quiet your mind, He will provide you with guidance. It may not be the answer you were hoping for, but it will be the right answer. Give him a chance.
Take Care of Yourself
One of the deadly sins is slothfulness. Our body is God’s temple. We are supposed to take care of it. He talks about it in 1 Corinthians 6:
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1-Corinthians-Chapter-6/
God created us to work. We need to take care of ourselves so we can serve God and each other. Being healthier helps you feel better. You are not only physically stronger, but it can lead you to become spiritually more resistant to sin. We can all use that.
Ask for Help
God does not expect you to do everything yourself. We all need help from time to time. Talk to someone.
Spiritual: Talk to a priest or a trusted friend.
Physical: Talk to a doctor, a personal trainer, or a dietitian
Mental: Find a good therapist or talk to a friend.
You can also find a support group online. As with God, beware of “false prophets”. Not everyone has your best interests in mind.
My Parting Words
I hope you found this article useful. These are merely some suggestions you can use to help with your own journey. We all walk at our own pace. Be the best you can be and I will see you soon.
