Life isn’t about keeping score. It’s not about how many friends you have, or how accepted you are. It’s not about if you have plans this weekend, or if you’re alone. It isn’t about who you’re dating, who you used to date, how many people you’ve dated, or if you haven’t been with anyone at all. It isn’t about who you have kissed. It’s not about sex.
It isn’t about who your family is, or how much money they have, or what kind of car you drive, or where you were sent to school. It’s not about how beautiful or ugly you are, or what clothes you wear, or what shoes you have on, or what kind of music you listen to. It’s not about if your hair is blonde, red, black, or brown, or if your skin is too light or too dark.
It’s not about what grades you get, how smart you are, how smart everybody else thinks you are, or how smart standardized tests say you are. It’s not about what clubs you’re in, or how good you are at “your” sport. It’s not about representing your whole being on a piece of paper and seeing who will “accept the written you”.
BUT . . .
Life IS about who you love and who you hurt. It IS about who you make happy or unhappy purposefully. It’s about keeping or betraying trust. It’s about friendship, used as a sanctity or a weapon.
It’s about what you say and what you mean, maybe hurtful, maybe heartening. It’s about starting rumours and contributing to petty gossip. It’s about what judgments you pass and why, and who your judgments are spread to. It’s about who you’ve ignored with full control and intention.
It’s about jealousy, fear, ignorance, and revenge. It’s about carrying inner hate and love, letting it grow, and spreading it. But most of all, it’s about using your life to touch or poison other people’s hearts, in such a way that could have never occurred alone.
Only you choose the way those hearts are affected, and those choices are what life is all about.
- Author Unknown
What is the reason for life? What is its true value? Is it in the success we achieve? Is it in the things we possess? Is it in the wealth we acquire?
Or perhaps it is the attitude we have. Perhaps it is not what we do, but how we do it. Perhaps the real essence of life lies within ourselves, deeply embedded in the very core that makes us who we are.
What exists in our heart is what we become. If we have bad seed, then we sow a bad harvest. If we have good seed, then we sow a good harvest.
If we always strive to do better, to be better, to obtain the unobtainable, to grasp that which cannot be grasped, to always face life with a smile and a happy heart, and to show others these truths, then we will realise what life is all about.
- Annie Kriel
Today on television I viewed a Royal Wedding, that is a wedding, defined as “royal” by human standards. The entire church was filled with friends and family of the bride and groom, including a few celebrities, and the crowds gathered outside were enormous. One could feel the excitement and enthusiasm in the air as the pressure was mounting.
Not so far away, a small crowd was cheering at the arrival of their Prince. They were completely overjoyed and ecstatic at the mere site of him. The bigger crowds gathered outside the church could not yet see or hear him as he was still too far away, and they were too busy arguing amongst themselves for the better view as close to the church as possible. They thought they would have a better chance at seeing the Prince if they were right outside the church, rather than a few blocks away.
The Prince made his way past the small crowd, greeting them kindly and moving towards the church. When the Prince arrived at the church he stepped out of his royal vehicle and on to the red carpet. As he walked down the aisle the trumpets sounded and the Royal Choir praised him with beautiful hymns. At the front of the church, he stood before the Priest, waiting in anticipation for his bride.
Again the trumpets sounded and the hymns began. The beautiful bride had arrived and was making her way down the red carpet. What a glorious sight it was! The bride was shining with pure beauty and magnificence, full of grace and poise. The bride arrived at the front of the church and the groom lovingly took her hand.
They approached the Priest and kneeled before him in prayer. And there on that day, they made their vows to be joined together forever.
Some time from now there will be another Royal Wedding, only this one will be defined as “royal” not by human standards, but by God’s standards. The venue will be over-flowing with people, as many people as there are grains of sand. There will be many crowds gathered outside the venue, waiting for the arrival of the Prince. Our Prince who is Jesus Christ.
Only those who know Him, who He calls family, will be allowed to attend the Wedding. All those who are family of the Prince will be overjoyed and ecstatic when they see Him, and just looking at Him will fill their hearts with peace and joy. Those who are not family of the Prince, whom He does not know, will not be allowed to attend the Wedding and just looking at Him will fill them with remorse and anguish.
People who call themselves friends of the Prince, but who are no more honest than that statement itself. Those people who stand next to the church and argue about the best view will not see the Prince. This is because they are too focused on the religion of Christ than actually having a relationship with Him.
Those people who stand a few blocks away will see the Prince in all His glory, and they will meet with Him and talk with Him. This is because they have a relationship with Christ, and regard Him more important than anything else in their lives.
As our Prince arrives in His Royal Chariot, the trumpets will blow and the Heavenly Choir will sing beautiful hymns and songs in honour of Him. The Prince has come to collect His magnificent bride, who whilst waiting for His arrival, has transformed herself into a shining image of pure perfection, beautiful in every way and lacking nothing, radiant with holiness. The Bride who is the Church.
The Bride walks down the Royal Carpet towards the Prince. And there before the Ultimate High Priest, they humble themselves before Him and become united to each other for all eternity.
Where do you fit in? Which part do you play in the Royal Wedding? Are you family of the Groom, or are you just a friend?
Are you one of those standing in the small crowd waiting eagerly for His arrival? One of the few who might have been physically far away, but spiritually very close to the Prince because of your relationship with Him?
Or are you simply a bystander standing next to the church, hoping to get a glimpse of Him but more involved in the religion of the Prince than the Prince Himself?
Will you join the Heavenly Choir in praising the Prince on His return? Or will you be filled with so much regret your lips won’t be able to move? Will you be humbling yourself with the Prince before the Ultimate High Priest? Or will you be one of the others who are left behind? Are you the Prince’s beautiful bride, or are you one of the bystanders?
For only the Bride can be unified with the Prince in everlasting life.
- Annie Kriel
The secret of life is not living, but loving. For it is in loving that we find true living. Our living is based on our loving, but our loving should not be based on our living.
Our love defines who we are, and who we are defines how we love. The ability to love is given to us on our first breath. We take this love as we need it, but rarely give it.
The purpose of life is to give to others that which we ourselves have received. A love that is pure, untainted, and unconditional. A love that breaks all boundaries, and cuts through to the heart of every man. A love that lifts the fallen and heals the wounded. A love that rejoices in the happiness of itself.
If we show others this love, in our weaknesses it will be shown to us. If we give to others what we ourselves have received, the reward is far greater than any gift one could receive.
And so in our final breath we realise that to live is to love, and to love is to live.
- Annie Kriel