Starting Right
Starting Right is a 5 minute Day Starter to help keep you motivated, encouraged, and focused throughout your day. DannyMac is a pastor, teacher, motivational speaker, husband, and father. His years of leading and training people have given him vast experience in helping individuals to accomplish change in their lives and meet their goals. He can help you set the course for your day by offering practical advice from God's Word in a positive and fun way. There is no better way to begin your day than by Starting Right with DannyMac.
Starting Right
Reflecting on Life's Lasting Impressions
Note: This episode was originally broadcast in 2020, during the COVID lockdowns, but the message is as important today as it was then, especially for me now dealing with a stroke. Enjoy!
How would you feel if your last conversation with a loved one was truly the last? Inspired by an eye-opening moment while listening to High Valley on a drive, I'm diving into the profound impact our words and actions leave on others. We're navigating times where connection is more limited than ever, making it crucial to reflect on the impressions we create. Let's explore how to consciously embody the love and values we hold dear, ensuring that our last words or deeds resonate with kindness and intention.
Drawing wisdom from the book of Haggai, we challenge ourselves to scrutinize our priorities and relationships. Emphasizing the importance of forgiveness and reconciliation, I invite you to think deeply about your motivations and the relationships you cherish. With insights from scripture encouraging us to give ‘careful thought’ to our actions, we'll discuss how to nurture stronger bonds and seek divine guidance in building a more connected, peaceful community. Join me, Danny Mac, on this journey toward intentional living and meaningful connections, every weekday on Starting Right.
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mac. I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back, relax and let me help you start your day right. I have a confession to make this morning. I am a fan of country music. I like country music. Well, quite honestly, I like a wide variety of music my Spotify playlists but haven't listened to very often.
Speaker 1:By a group called High Valley, and as we're listening to it, as I'm driving along, they came to this song that I have heard many times before. But when they sang it this time, it hit me like it never has before. It was one of those songs and one of those phrases that, at the right time, it just sort of clicked inside of me. Let me read to you what the chorus says, because it's the chorus that gets to me and I'm certainly not going to sing it to you. If the last thing you did was the last thing you do, if the last word you said was the last breath you drew, would you be okay with the way they remember you? If the last thing you did was the last thing you do. Now, maybe it's because of this coronavirus separation that we've had with family and friends that we can't get together with them and see them and sit down and chat and talk and just love on them by being with them. We can't do that. Maybe because of that, I'm more sensitive to something like this, where the challenge is what was the last thing you said to somebody, what was the last thing you did with someone? And if it was the last chance you had to speak to them, how would that impact you? What would they think about you? What would that impact be on them for the rest of their lives?
Speaker 1:In the book of Haggai, god speaks through the prophet to tell the people to look at your motivation, look at your heart and see where the important things are in your lives. In chapter 1 and verse 5, it says this now, this is what the Lord Almighty says give careful thought to your ways. And that phrase give careful thought occurs four times in the two chapters of the book of Haggai Give careful thought. Give careful thought to what's important to you. Give careful thought to what you are doing. Give careful thought to where you're going. Give careful thought to what you say. Give careful thought to the message you're giving to the people you care about around you. Give careful thought to the impact that you're making on other people's lives. If the last thing you did was the last thing you do, would you be okay with the way they remember you?
Speaker 1:We spent the last two days talking about forgiveness, about getting over our offenses and our grudges. You know it's so important that we do those things while we still have the opportunity to reach out to people and build bridges and to reconcile, to make our families strong, to make our relationships strong. We need each other now. So today, I want you to give careful thought to what you've been doing, give careful thought to your priorities, give careful thought to the people in your life, give careful thought to your relationships, give careful thought to what you know God has been speaking to you about in your life, and take the steps you need to to bring peace in all of it and let God bless you and love you. We're all in this together, gang. Let's learn and grow together. Thank you for listening today and I invite you to join me Monday to Friday, right here on Starting Right with Danny Mac.
