How Do We Overcome Racism?

No matter how we look at it, racism hurts us all. In this country, racism stems from slavery and its aftermath. While slavery has been abolished here for many years, the pain, the shame, and the blame of it haven’t. The feelings linger, and we don’t know what to do with them, except inflict them on each other and ourselves—at times.

People of both races—black and white—have tried talking about these feelings among themselves and with people of another race, but these discussions too often still lead to even more unresolved feelings and increased frustration and hostility.

The fact of the matter is there are no intellectual words that can express the pain of slavery, and there is no apology that can take that pain away. As awful as it was, nothing can change the fact that slavery is a part of our history. The question now is what do we do today?

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You’re Perfect Just the Way You Are

Life can be very hard and confusing. It often seems when you take one step forward, you wind up taking five steps backwards, right? It’s okay and you’re okay. In fact, you’re more than okay. You’re perfect just the way you are, because God loves you. That makes you perfect, and strong, and beautiful.

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Believing Is Seeing

It’s easy to let the images the world portrays as perfect cause us to cast away our confidence and wallow in self-doubt. It’s easy if we believe everything we see. But you and I both know that seeing is not always believing, especially when it comes to outward appearances.

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A Peace That Surpasses All Understanding

You believe God gave you a mission—a job to do. But it frightens you.

On the one hand, you know it’s divinely special that God has chosen you in such a special way to do specific work in the world for his glory and honor. But on the other hand, you have so many questions and concerns about it.

“Why me?” you ask yourself. “How do I know it’s really the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart and not that other spirit leading me astray? What if I fail? What will people say?”

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The Beauty of Being Still

Stillness is not necessarily long hours of prayer and meditation, although that’s good, too. It’s also tuning into the quiet calmness inside you underneath whatever turbulence that’s occurring in your day.

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Make Joy a Habit

Let's face it, who doesn't want to be happy? The good news is, joy is ours when we choose to make it a priority. Dedication to embracing it is the key. Here are some simple techniques to help you start today to make joy a habit. Try them all or just some of them, and choose the ones that work best for you. Then, practice them for 21 days (which is typically how long it takes to form a habit) or as often as you can. The more you practice them, the more joyful you will feel each day.

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How to Avoid Hurt Feelings

Has anyone ever said this to you: “Don’t be so sensitive. I was only kidding.” If so, did it change the way you felt? Chances are it didn’t because you had already taken the matter to heart and it had already hurt your feelings.

Needless to say, not every hurt feeling can be avoided, but some can, especially the unnecessary ones.

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