15 THINGS I NOW KNOW ABOUT LIFE, LOVE, GOD & PURPOSE.

Picture of Ashubwe Zadock Jebel

One of the greatest schools is the school of life. It is free but gives real and very expensive lessons, right from the environment we are in, people, failure, self, and even success carries it is own lessons. As I turn a year older, here are a few lessons I have been able to pick.

1. Nobody is coming to save you.

At some point, you have to take responsibility for your own life. People may support you, advise you, pray for you and walk with you but there are battles you must decide to face yourself.

2. You can lose what you once thought you could never live without.

Life will sometimes strip you of people, opportunities, possessions, relationships and things you deeply valued. Don't be dismayed. You can rebuild. As long as you don't give up, your story isn't over.

3. If you are willing to change, you are never truly stuck.

Sometimes the breakthrough isn't waiting for a change of circumstances; it's waiting for a change in you. Growth begins when you become honest enough to say, “Something about me has to change.”

4. Your mindset matters more than you realize.

The way you see yourself, your circumstances and your future profoundly influences the decisions you make and the person you become. Change your thinking, and you begin changing your life.

5. You were born with potential and purpose.

You are not an accident. There is something you were created to contribute to this world. Your responsibility is to discover it, develop it and faithfully steward it.

6. One of the greatest battles you will ever fight is the battle within yourself.

Sometimes the person standing between you and your next level isn't your enemy, your circumstances or your critics. Sometimes it is you, your fears, excuses, habits, pride or unwillingness to grow.

7. Kindness without wisdom can become a weakness.

Being a good person doesn't mean being available to everyone, trusting everyone or tolerating everything. You can have a good heart and still have boundaries. Kindness needs wisdom, and love needs discernment.

8. Many of the things you desire are on the other side of faith and fear.

Fear will always give you reasons to remain where you are. Faith gives you the courage to move anyway. Sometimes the door doesn't open until you are willing to knock.

9. Start today.

Don't keep postponing your life until tomorrow. Tomorrow may come, but the opportunity attached to today may not. Some seasons require action, not more preparation.

10. You will be tested in the very things you hold firmly.

Your convictions, patience, faith, character, relationships and even your priorities will eventually be tested. What you truly believe is revealed when believing becomes difficult.

11. Pain can give you a lesson, but it should never become your doctrine.

Pain can teach you what to avoid, what to value and where you need healing. But don't build your entire philosophy of life around what hurt you. Learn from the pain, heal from it, and keep living.

12. God has never stopped loving you.

There may be moments when you feel unworthy, disappointed in yourself or far from God. But your failures don't cancel His love. You may change your position, but you don't have the power to make God stop loving you.

13. Help can come from the most unexpected places.

Sometimes God will send someone you never knew, someone you never expected or someone you didn't even ask for. Never become so focused on where you expected help to come from that you fail to recognize the help when it arrives.

14. Purpose is bigger than success.

I now know that being successful is not simply about making money, becoming known or achieving impressive things. Purpose is about becoming the person God created you to be and using what He has given you to serve something bigger than yourself. You can gain attention and still miss purpose.

15. Love is beautiful, but love alone is not enough.

I now know that genuine love requires character, wisdom, communication, sacrifice, boundaries, compatibility, responsibility and God. You can love someone deeply and still not be right for each other. And sometimes loving someone means knowing when to stay, when to grow, and when to let go.

Growing older has taught me to appreciate the things I once took for granted, the people who love me, the lessons behind my failures, the opportunities I still have, the prayers God has answered and even the unanswered prayers.

I don't know how many years I have ahead of me, but I know I want the years ahead to matter.

So today, I celebrate not just another year of life, but another year of becoming.

Happy birthday to me. 

More wisdom. More grace. More purpose. More love. More impact.

And above all, more of God.