Here is the full version of the serenity prayer and not just the short version that we use in AA. I love the long version because I believe that it helps me to understand it better and it helps me to apply it to my life better. So here it is:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next. Amen.
By Reinhold Niebuhr
What a beautiful prayer. And how true! I think what I like the best here is the reminder that even Jesus had to accept things and people as they were. He had to accept sin, and the consequences of it. And he accepted it to a greater degree than I ever will when he paid the price of my sin on the cross. When I can remember that Jesus experienced the same things that I experience, and yet he did it without sin, it makes me hopeful that I can persevere through whatever circumstances life brings me today. I know that in the end I will be with him, a God who has walked a mile in my shoes. To me that is comforting!
1 comment:
It is comforting. As a Christian and one who has slipped so many times I don't know how I would ever have gotten back up without Him. He is my all, my very breath, my hope and my eternity.
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