I Choose

It is quiet in this room where I write.  My thoughts are my own, guided by God’s spirit as I asked that He would.

Tomorrow I arise to a new day, new opportunities, and new choices.

What will I choose tomorrow?

Tomorrow I will choose love.  I will see a mixing bowl of humanity here in Seattle where I live.  Some dress differently from me.  Others speak with a strange accent and even stranger words.

I choose love for my fellow man.  We breathe the same air.  We cherish our hopes and dreams.  We seek a positive future.  I choose love because each person I meet tomorrow will face their own trials and joys.  I choose to somehow demonstrate love to each person I meet, even if it is nothing more than a smile, a gentle “hello” or a handshake of friendship.  Tomorrow I will choose love.

Tomorrow I will choose joy.  Each situation that is presented to me has to be handled.  Will I joyfully embrace each opportunity, or will I regret and resent the intrusion in my ‘ordered’ world?  Tomorrow I will choose joy.

Tomorrow I will choose peace.  I will find the calm of my soul as I enter a new day and I will allow the peace of Christ to rule in my heart.  My prayer is that others will sense the peace within me and it will spread.  Tomorrow I will choose peace.

Tomorrow I will choose patience.  If someone cuts me off on the freeway, I will slow down; give them a bit more room.  I will avoid some subtle sign language that some in our species often resort to in a moment of frustration.  I will demonstrate patience to others.  If I am asked the same question more than once, I will answer with patience each time.  Tomorrow I will choose patience.

Tomorrow I will choose kindness.  If someone irritates me, I will respond with kindness, rather than dish out an irritating response in return.  I will be kind to the elderly, who have their own set of difficulties.  I will speak kindness to a child, for perhaps, I can model kindness for them.  Tomorrow I will choose kindness.

Tomorrow I will choose goodness.  I could bring out my ugly side if I chose.  I could be harsh, I could have an edge in my voice, and I could be curt to some retail clerk.  Tomorrow I will choose goodness.

Tomorrow I will choose faithfulness.  I could miss a few appointments tomorrow.  I could skip some critical meeting to which I have given my word to attend.  I could do some horrible deed and betray all the trust my wife has in me in one moment of lapse.  Instead, tomorrow, I choose faithfulness.

Tomorrow I will choose gentleness.  I will show my soft side in all my dealings.  I will be easy to be around; I will overflow with a gentle nature and a kind spirit.  Tomorrow I will choose gentleness.

Tomorrow I will choose self-control.  I have desires, cravings, habits to which I have given myself in the past.  Some are good, wholesome and worthwhile.  Others are detrimental to my existence.  Tomorrow, I will choose to be a person in control of desires, passions, and excesses.  I will live in moderation, and prove to me and those I love that I am a person of self-control.  Tomorrow I will choose self-control.

Love

  Joy

    Peace

      Patience

        Kindness

          Goodness

            Faithfulness

              Gentleness

                Self-control

Tomorrow, I will choose these traits.  If I succeed, then thanks be to God.  If I fail, I will seek God’s grace and forgiveness, and face the rest of my day in pursuit of the very attribute that just caused my stumble.

These traits represent the “fruit of the spirit” as talked about in Galatians 5:22-23

I choose!

And so do you.

P Michael Biggs

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