Do you put forth an extra effort to gain favor with those above you, to whom you are beholden, or who are in a position to reward you? It is your duty to please those that you report to in your job, but this behavior can go beyond good work performance, and it is known by some ungracious terms. How many people do you know who put forth the same effort toward those below them, who are not in a position to reciprocate or reward them? This is rare enough that the corresponding terms in popular jargon do not exist, but love, kindness, and compassion would seem to apply.

The Bible makes many references to soldiers. This is an image that everyone can relate to regardless of whether they have served in uniform or not. The admirable qualities of a soldier include pleasing the one who has called him to serve, and lack of entanglement in distractions. Good soldiers have discipline, focus, and a sense of mission. These qualities transfer directly to the conduct of believers even if their service to me doesn’t involve weapons. Do you know what your commander expects of you?

My disciples asked me to teach them to pray and I did. You are familiar with the lesson, part of which says, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Do you use this idea as a standard by which to judge your own prayers? Do your prayers contribute to this goal? It is one thing to incorporate this broad policy statement into your prayers. It is another to break it down into specific requests that serve this outcome and taking action accordingly. Blessed are those who pray according to my will in concrete terms, for they shall see the answers to their prayers.

Are you reassured by the fact that the Holy Spirit is known as the Comforter? Yet it was this same Spirit that led me into the wilderness for 40 days to fast and be tempted by the accuser. Does this sound like your idea of comfort? So this Spirit performs multiple roles. Are you in greater need of comfort or challenge? Comfort makes you feel better in your situation but challenge stretches you to the limit of your capabilities and enlarges them. How else do you grow in your capacity? Don’t you seek out challenges for yourself for this very purpose? The Holy Spirit can provide them too.