"Love must be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good."  Romans 12:9

"Detest" and "Cling" are a lot stronger than "not prefer" and "like".  Detest is a very descriptive verb.  It is more than simply disliking.  Cling paints the picture of "holding on and never letting go".  This takes a lot more effort than what we may often invest.   

Lord, help me to be more active in my actions toward what is right and what is wrong.

"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"  Matthew 19:20

We love to compare ourselves to others. " I have this and they don't."  "They have this and I don't."  When we desire to feel good about ourselves, we point out all that we have but fail to recognize the areas in our life that we lack and need to improve upon.  When we want to feel sorry for ourselves, we tend to point out what we don't have and fail to recognize all that we have.  We have an abundance and we also lack a lot.  We need to be sure that we accurately value those things that we have but also appropriately pay attention to the areas that we lack. 

Lord, help me to be thankful for all that I have but not be satisfied when there are areas that I need to improve upon. 

"Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men." Colossians 3:23

Who are we performing for?  

Lord, help me to see you as my audience over anyone else, including me.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." Hebrews 13:8

There are few things that we can be certain.  In a world of alternate facts and relativism, facts change with the blowing wind.  One thing is for certain and will be certain yesterday, today and forever ... Jesus.

Lord, thank you that I can always look to you for consistency, certainty and promises kept.

"When he arrived there he proved to be of great benefit."   Acts 18:27

The best compliment that could ever be said about you.  If we put others before ourselves, then we benefit them and that should be of value to us.

Lord, help me to be a person that values helping others and that others feel is of great benefit.

"Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him."  Mark 5:24

If you had a chance to hang out with anyone, who would it be?  If Jesus walked into the room, would you even recognize him?  And if you did, would you drop everything to hang out with him?  Well, He is in the room.

Lord, help me to make time for You as You always make time for me.

"Jesus replied, 'You must love the Lord your God with all you heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.'" Matthew 22:37-38

All or nothing!  Some is not enough.  All.  Everything.  

Lord, help me to love You with all.

"Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Two Facts are true if you are a Teenager or College Student:  1) Nothing good ever happens between 10pm and 2am.  2) Nothing good happens in the dark.  Both situations find us vulnerable and open to falling into temptation.  Being alone is also risky.  However, what is also true is that we are never alone.  The Holy Spirit is with us. 

Lord, help me to realize that I am never alone and that when I behave poorly in secret, it is not secret. 

"Peter asked Jesus, "What about him, Lord?" Jesus replied, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me."   John 21: 21-22

Teammates shouldn't compete against each other.  Teammates should compete with each other.  There are too many opponents out there to add your teammates to the list.  Once you have your opponents all beaten, then you can compete against your teammates.  The same is true of ourselves.  We have enough work to do to fix our own failures to be distracted by other's issues.  

Lord, help me love others and help me to work on my faults.

"For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body-so also is Christ." 1 Corinthians 12:12

My Dad had his leg amputated.  He was still my dad.  The NFL has a player who starts and has only one hand.  My wife doesn't have a thyroid and she is still awesome.  We have been conditioned to believe that we can continue on without specific body parts.  We can.  However, wouldn't all of these three people prefer to still have them so that they could function more efficiently without a prosthetic or without medicine?  We may think we can function alone or without certain types of people in our lives but the truth is that we may be able to function but probably not as efficiently and effectively as if we allowed others in our lives.

Lord, help me to understand and appreciate others for who they are.