Category: dedication, discipline, determination.

Spirit Chronicles: Darkness Fell on the Land

Featured

I had a dream about the darkness rising in America and the fall of America as the greatest country in the world.  Big cities have begun to plunge into turmoil due to anarchy and lost ethics and morals. This is also spreading into the suburbs and small towns across the country.  I saw people in suits surrounded by $$ signs (big tech) helping to spread the ideals of darkness on people.  I saw sin in the form of a beautiful woman that turned into a demon as a symbol of the sinful nature of mankind and how the desires of flesh and sin have become normal and acceptable. 

I saw men and women of power with black eyes representing darkness as Government leaders are not of the light. These people were deceptive leaders full of deep rooted darkness led by a desire for power, greed, money and control over all aspects of citizens.  I saw darkness fall upon the land sending it into a modern day fight for the survival of the country.  But this one is fought using social media, news outlets, the internet and other web based activity that Americans have become addicted to. 

I saw young people with blinds on representing the mind sweep that is going on with social media and the lack of respect being taught to them by parents. A new generation of kids that cannot think for themselves was being formed and will be used as part of the great deception that will continue to occur. Social media shows it and they believe it. I saw a virus released on mankind represented by a viral bug and a man standing there with a lab coat with dark eyes. He was part of the release of some type of global virus yet to come.

I saw free signs and people then fighting, rioting and hurting others when all the free ran low or was no longer available. I saw homeless people, streets on fire and drugs representing part of the demise of America. The plans for social change and social control fail and the country becomes chaotic.  I saw a huge light at the end and people going towards it. That represented the people that turned away from the darkness that fell on America and were still faithful and true to God and his word. I saw an Angel, the US Flag and a Family standing near each other. These represented the union of good and the light force that will eventually win the battle over darkness. God, Country and Family for life!

Faith- What To Do When You Need Patience

Featured

Today as I am trying to pack to go on the yearly summer vacation I find myself needing patience. I am generally laid back and a pretty patient person (exceptions traffic and drive through Windows). I am not sure why but those two things tend to get under my skin especially a drive through if the people in the car with me do not know what they want or keep changing their mind. I get to the point of “just flipping order something”. Patience is required in life as we spend lots of time waiting at the doctor, stores, drive throughs, traffic, restaurants and in my case waiting on a woman (my wife and two daughters). Seems like it takes them forever to make up their mind on clothes and getting dressed.

Then when we go shopping it takes forever to go in the store and grab stuff. That turns into an all day shopping excursion and I have things to do at home. God wants us to be patient and patience in mentioned in his word in both the new and old testament. I have to exercise patience as a public school teacher and coach with teenagers. I have to get better at being patient and the only way I can do that is to work on it hard. Focus on it and ask the Lord for patience and grace in that process. Being patient is kind, loving, friendly, helpful, avoids stress and anxiety. Being patient is what God expects us to be when dealing with our family and friends. Being patient requires us to submit to Gods plan in our lives and live the best we can and “wait”. For me that is the hard part!

James 5: 7-8; Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Psalm 37:39; Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

Faith- Doubting God

Featured

Today as I was riding around the yard mowing and listening to some good Christian Worship music a few songs came on that really hit me hard and the message I got was that we often have doubt in God and his promises. I have had my times when I doubted God, mostly when things were going bad, getting hard and tough to deal with. We want things and want it our way but that is not how it works with God. When we ask for something or pray for something we do not always get the answer we want. We get what God wants us to have as he controls all things human, spiritual and in between.

As I was thinking about this and listening to the words in these songs the thought of God being constant and always with us, guiding us and helping us hit me hard. I have had a very spiritual evolution of late since I had a near death experience back in September of 2020. I had faith in God but had slipped in that faith and how he has handled me and dealt with me since then has shown me that his love, grace, mercy and care are like no other I could ask for or expect. In the bible its tells us that faith in God is the foundation of life.

Faith in God is the rock by which we build a solid foundation. He is the way, the light, the miracle, the past, the present and the future. Human nature leads to doubt. We are emotional creatures and that emotion can take a toll on our faith on people and the Lord. We struggle at times with mental, physical and spiritual battles. These things create anxiety and fear of the unknown. These things can separate us from God and drive us to carry baggage that God wants us to get rid of.

When things get hard sit down and pray. Make a list of the ways God has blessed you and your family. Making this list will bring you back to the understanding that God is omni present in our lives and is leading us the way he wants us to go. We put ourselves in bad situations and that makes us doubt not only what we believe but our belief on God. We win some, we lose some, we tie some. God always wins and we have to see the wins in these situations to remove doubt. We lose a family member and doubt comes crashing in. Know that God has that soul now and they are fine.

We lose a job, a house, a spouse and other things we have. This throws doubt, anxiety and tests our faith. Hold strong and know that God has this. He is in charge and will take care of things. He will carry us through it. I put together a list of things that I think help me stay stronger in my faith. Things that can help you get closer to God and know that his support and love in constant and always present. We must first overcome our own doubt to overcome the doubt we have in God. Life can be disappointing at times and in those times we must not doubt God, but find strength in his words and actions. God is awesome, caring, loving, supportive and patient. We must be the same to be a person of confidence and not a “doubter”.

1- Do not rely on your own emotions, confidence and actions to try and overcome the big challenges in your life.

2- We adopt worry, anxiety and fear as our way of dealing with things.

3- We question Gods goodness and grace in our lives.

Reading Isiah 26, I found these three ways to cast any doubt we have about God in our lives away.

1- Seek God and his everlasting power when times are tough.

2- Know that God promised us safety, grace and mercy in the Bible.

3- Know that God never doubts us and we should never doubt him.

Featured

Faith- Lukewarm Spirituality

I am 100% convicted of the title of todays faith based lesson. I have been a spiritual person since I was just a young boy but have had times in my life when I was lukewarm at best. In fact, I have been less than lukewarm at times in my journey with God. The bible refers to this as non being mindful or watchful of God’s work in your life. Life throws all kinds of curve balls at us and the Devil loves to step in and get between us and the Lord. Lukewarm spirit can be compared to lukewarm work habits, relationships and family matters.

If we are lukewarm we will face things that we are not prepared for and those things will take us down. We have to constantly be in prayer and seek guidance from God to make sure that we stay Red hot for God and not go lukewarm. You do not have to church every week to be red hot on fire for God. We choose our relationships with family, spouses, co-workers and God. We build habits within ourselves that determine how we do in these areas of our lives. Laziness creates lukewarm behaviors and lukewarm results.

God wants us to be more than lukewarm for him. He seeks us daily and consistently watches over us and wants us to reach back to him. We must not just seek him in bad times but at all times. God is never lukewarm and we should not be either. If we are lukewarm in a marriage then it will suffer. If we are lukewarm at a sporting event or when playing then out performance will suffer. If we are lukewarm at work then out performance will suffer.

I had to look at myself and think about my Luke warmness in life at times. I had to look at myself in all aspects to make sure I stayed on fire for God and that he can continue to influence me and lead me to what he wants me to be. Avoid be lukewarm by doing the following things in your life daily. This will keep you on fire in your relationships, career, outside activities and most importantly with God himself.

1- Pray everyday without fail. Failure to pray is failing to seek God in your life.

2- Check yourself to see where you stand in all aspects of your work life, family life and spiritual life.

3- Change what is broken. Get rid of old habits by creating good ones that are productive and never be lukewarm in anything you have passion about.

4- Work hard at all aspects of life and go for red hot in everything that is important to you.

5- Pray, Pray and Pray some more and watch God become red hot in your life.

2nd Corinthians 13:5; Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Featured

Leadership 101- 12 Effective Habits of Great Leaders

1- The very best coaches motivate, inspire and lead the organization with intention, purpose, dedication, discipline, desire and an create energy around them constantly. 

2- The really effective coaches never use intimidation, power, embarrassment or other negativity to teach the required skills needed to be successful in life, sports, work and play.  

3- Great coaches are great life teachers that lead by example, share their history, success, failure, wins and losses to grow the team, individual and build life long relationships.  

4- The best coaches keep the game in perspective and know that winning, losing, upsets, setback, victory, injury, goals and are all about life after the sport and game has ended.

5- Great coaches never let their ego, pride or willingness to win override team goals, personal matters and individual accomplishment.  

6- Great coaches understand the individual strengths and skills of each player and how they can be developed for the overall improvement of the player, staff and team.

7- The best coaches coach the individual, team and staff with intention of growing their skills and winning.

8- The best coaches are always flexible and fir the players into their system of success growing the team skills constantly. 

9- The great coaches are communicators that lead with their voice, actions and behavior.  

10- Great coaches listen to their players, staff and parents actively to gauge where they are in relationships and overall growth of the organization.

11- Great coaches just do not talk the talk, they walk the walk.

12- Great coaches teach life skills, winning, losing, integrity, hard work, dedication, discipline, team work, overcoming, and so many other needed life skills for adult success after the game iv over.

Featured

Life Hacks 101- 10 Things Coaches, Managers and Go Getters Look For

Today we are talking about traits that coaches value and look for in their student athletes that cost nothing but time, energy and work ethic.  These traits also are what business owners, companies, managers, leaders and other people looking for talent expect. These traits set you apart from others and can make you a great player, worker, leader, parent, teacher, business owner and whatever it is you want to be.  If I can get my athletes to learn these by my actions, behaviors and results then as a coach I have accomplished my goals and the rest will take care of itself.  

1- Time management skills- Are you on time, are you early for class, practice, work and ready to go when the bell, alarm or clock strikes and its go time.

2- Great work ethic- Do you exhibit a work ethic that people cannot deny and one that shows you are a true go getter.

3- Positive energy- Are you a positive person that exudes positive traits and thoughts. Do people want to be around you and grow with you.

4- Positive attitude- Do you see the glass half full or half empty.  Does your attitude reflect goodness, kindness, love and respect for others.

5- Being prepared- Are you prepped and ready for completing tasks, work assignments, school work and other demands life throws at you.  Do you do what it takes to be ready to roll, ready to work and ready to win.

6- Passion- Are you passionate about your family, friends, job, sport or life.  Passion can override talent and lots of other traits many times.  Give me  passionate learner and I will take that over talent any day of the week.

7- Discipline- Do you show discipline in your actions, behaviors and life.  Do you have what it takes to be disciplined to work out, lift weights, run, manage your weight and help the team out.  Are you disciplined to get out of bed and get to work and produce for your family and to meet your goals.

8- Communication skills- Can you openly communicate with people in a positive and meaningful way.  Can you talk business like and not use slang and street terms in conversations.  Are you a good listener and have positive skills people see when you communicate with them.  Do you sound educated (I am not talking college educated).  

9- Good body language- Do you carry yourself in a positive manner.  Do you sit upright, keep good eye contact and other positive body language.  Do you know how to present yourself, shake hands and make people feel relaxed around you.  Are you too chilled at times and can you turn it on and off as needed.

10- Coachable- Lastly and most important to me.  Are you coachable, teachable, and able to be mentored. Can you accept feedback and loss with dignity and respect.  Are you part of the solution or part of the problem.  Do you take advice from someone much older, more knowledgeable and experienced and apply it to become better.  Or are you a hotshot know it all that will eventually fail because you know more about a 30 year veteran coach about your position or saw it on a video game.  (believe me folks, this is a reality nowadays)!

There are other things you could put on this list.  But these are the things that cost you nothing but time, energy and work ethic.  These are the basic skills needed in sports, work, life and play that can make you successful whether you are a backup, first string star or do a common job.  These skills will make you stand out in the crowd, rise above others and set you on a path that others envy and want to be on.  They may not admit it, but ultimately they see your success and skill set and desire to be like you.

Featured

Personal Growth-Three Keys to Success In Life

As a coach I have attended many coaching clinics through the years to gain knowledge, experience and grow my skill set to help my athletes get better.  One of my favorite all time coaches and speakers is Lu Holtz who had a fabulous career coaching, speaking and as a broad caster for football games.  He was a program builder and did a super job everywhere he went.  I had the pleasure of meeting him and getting a picture with him several years ago at a football clinic in Atlanta, GA.  He is a motivational coach and person that has so much experience in life and is a winner.  The quote above hit home with me today as I was surfing the web to prepare for writing and I wanted to share it with my people.


In this quote he is talking about three things that are key to winning, overcoming, preparing and doing well in sports and life.  The first of these is Ability which is important as part of success and winning.  We all have natural God given ability and some that we have developed through the years as we practice, prepare, study, learn and work towards our goals in life.  We must take these abilities and maximize them to be the best we can. Motivation is the second part of this success formula and that comes from mostly within ourselves.  We find motivation from others around us, our coaches, teammates and friends.  But the final say on how motivated a person can be is a individual decision.


Football coaches stand before team and give a motivational fire and brim stone speech to the guys designed to fire them up and give  them confidence and motivation to play hard.  That fired up speech will last about the first 3-5 minutes of the game and then it becomes a game of will and who wants to  win more than the other.  Finding motivation when things get tough is the hard part.  Finding motivation when you are down is the hard part.  Finding a way to motivate your friends and get them fired up during battle is an art.  


Attitude determines how you will succeed in life, sports, work and play.  I was talking to my students today in class and we were discussing life skills and how attitude keeps us  going and helps define who we are and where we go in life.  The old saying is “you can either see the glass half full or half empty”.  I used a half full water bottle as the prop and we talked about that for a few minutes.  I want my students to understand that they determine their attitude and no one else.  We started class out with a simple paper that had five faces on it.  One was smiling, one frowning, one neutral, one crying and one really happy.  I told them to circle where they were at that point with attitude.  After we did the exercise and talked about it I had them repeat the activity.  


Several of them actually changed their picture from frowning or mad to a more happy face.  I suggest you print one of these off the internet and put it on your mirror or fridge so you have to decide how you will take on your day.  Will you start the day glass half full or glass half empty?  Take your ability and use it to become better.  Motivate yourself to accomplish great things and go after life with an attitude of excellence and intention.

Faith- Finding Courage In Challenging Situations

You will be put in challenging situations and at times feel overwhelmed and let down. Life will let you down at times and often it is when we are either at the top of our game or at the lowest point.  When we are facing our darkest moments and weakest moments due to life events we must focus on God and look for an outcome that is positive. To make it positive we have to have faith and believe that the process of overcoming challenging times is going to be dealt with head on and with courage.

Challenging events in our lives are part of the process of growing, becoming more than what and who we are.  God wants us to be strong, have faith and walk through life with his light shining.  Life will knock you down and beat you up bad if you let it. We live our best life and know that the things we face in life such as losing a job, losing family, broken families, health crisis and other things make us stronger. God will never put us through something we cannot handle and is right there by our side helping us with it. He is carrying us through it and knows the outcome if we follow him and trust in his process.

The bible tells us that God will not put us through anything we cannot handle, but doing it on our own often leads to more trouble, anger, strife and fear.  Ask God to help you, guide you and lead you and he will.  These times cause us to have all of these emotions and can make us mentally and physically sick. Tough times can also make us spiritually sick which allows the Devil to step in and cast doubt, anger and frustration. When times get hard, we must fight back and seek God for his grace, guidance and mercy.

You will look back and laugh at those times knowing it was all a step forward in your spiritual journey.  Even though it may have felt like a step backwards at the time. What seemed like a step in the wrong direction can often be the steps forward that propel us to become stronger in our faith and relationships with family, friends and God. When it gets tough, fight back. When times challenge you, push back. When a crisis happens in life, step up to the challenge. When life kicks you in the teeth, call on God and overcome!

Faith- Life Lessons #1

God has a plan for all of us, we have to ask for his guidance in the process and be obedient to him. There are two plans in life. Our plan and Gods plan and often the two are not the same. God is all knowing and has already planned our role in the world. We plan our own role as well and it often clashes and we somehow see things constantly getting in the way or progress towards our plan. God will not shut you down, but he can offer help if we seek his guidance in the process.

Humans tend to need and want things, it is a natural part of living.  What we often do not think about is what God needs for us to have.  Everything we own, work for, have, buy and accomplish is because we have a loving God that permits it. I look at my career, family, money, hobbies, health and other parts of my life as borrowed from God. We are all on borrowed time and with his blessings we will have the things we desire, need and want. Until those things get in the way of right, good, and just thinking, actions, behaviors and living.

He needs us to have a relationship with him, he wants us to honor him.  Honor God by honoring your commitment to him because he is 100% committed to you. Seeking a daily relationship with God is a must for me. I cannot imagine living without God interacting in my life, my family life and work life. I probably should restate the title of this paragraph to “We need a relationship with God” and that will honor him. Do everything with good intention, honor, commitment and faith and you can conquer the world in the process and achieve all your goals and dreams.

The bible speaks about desires of the flesh, getting lost in our way and being greedy.  Often, what we need is really not what we want.  I broke down and bought a new truck last week, well actually a good used truck bit compared to the old 1997 paid for truck I had it was a bigtime upgrade. I didn’t have to buy a truck but the time had come to where the old red one was starting to see its better life gone before it. I wrestled with the fact of spending money, buying a newer vehicle and using credit. Those are things I do not like to do. So I prayed about it, thought about, made a list of pros and cons about it and then made a decision.

Pray to God and ask for his guidance in buying, pursuing and having things. Ask God to show you the way. Be patient, observant and diligent in the way you pursue things using sound Biblical principals of finance, thought, behavior and work ethic and the world will treat you well. God will bless you, guide you and lead you to his plan and an ultimate victory for you. May God bless you and Keep you!

Faith- What If

Today I was reading the word of God and was thinking about “what if”. As a parent I have always been a “what if” kind of person. What if we do this or do not. What if the kids do this or that? Everything we do in life has good or bad consequences and that also applies to our faith in God. It applies to our relationship with God. What if a person chooses to look away from Gods grace? What if they choose to think that there is no God? What if they die and have not accepted Jesus into their hearts? These are the questions many people ask and have been talked about for hundreds if not thousands of years in churches, revivals and Christian culture.

So I am using Bible verses to show people the value of answering the question of “what if” you do not know Jesus and God and pass away. According to the Bible it states that a person that dies will have two outcomes for their spiritual journey when they leave their physical body.

Daniel 12:2; States that “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt”. 2nd Corinthians 5:10; States that “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil”. These tell us that after the physical life of the body ceases the spirit continues to live and based on the decision of knowing God or not we get what we get. So I ask then to you. Are you willing to take a chance on the “what if” of passing from the physical into the spiritual world and facing purgatory or heaven.

It is a simple choice that we must make and live and die by. Choose God and choose life. Choose to not believe and you choose a fate that is horrible, unkind and like nothing you could ever face on the earth. We all have a good dog or a bad dog inside of us. We make choices to be a good dog or bad dog in life. And with those choices come the consequences of life everlasting in a heavenly way or facing the devil in hell. I once spoke with a dear friend that was dying of cancer and he asked me about God a day or so before he passed.

I told him what I thought about God and how he was very important to me in life and after life. I asked him if he knew God and he told me he wasn’t sure about all that stuff. But then he told me he wanted to know. So I asked his “what if” you accept Jesus as your savior and die soon and go to heaven to see your family and friends that accepted him. Or the other side of the story which is “what if” you choose to take a chance on dying without knowing God and really do go to hell for eternity. We prayed and I read him some Bible versus and asked him to seek God and see what happened.

His wife called me and told me he wanted me to come see him the next day so I went by and we talked. He knew his time was short within days and he had to take the opportunity to see “what if” I accept Jesus as my savior. So we prayed and he asked Jesus into his heart, mind and soul. The chaplain also prayed and counseled him and we talked, cried and laughed for a few hours. Later that night about four hours I was driving home and a street light popped on and off a few times and I sensed that he had died and moved on. I called his wife and she told me that he had just taken his last breath and passed away after a long sturggle.

She thanked me and told me that just before he died he looked up and smiled and said “God” and his life ended. His wife had no doubt that God had come and taken him to heaven for everlasting life. It was a wonderful ending to a good mans life. He was a loving father, son, brother and husband. He was what God describes in the Bible as a good man. However, prior to him deciding to take the chance and roll the dice on the “what if” I die and do not know Jesus all of that would not have mattered for his eternal life. I pray anyone reading this, whether you agree or not seek God’s council.

Give it a try by praying, reading the word and talking to those that know God. It is your choice to choose which “what if” and your consequences to that choice. I choose God because I know his miracles, his power, his grace and his influence in my life. Thank You Dear God for helping me see the “What if” factor and helping others to potentially see it as well!

John 5:24; Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Romans 6:23; For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Revelation 20:14; And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Life Hacks 101: 10 Ways to Organize and Maintain Life

Today I was looking at ways to reset my organization and get my life back on the track I wanted it to be on. It is easy to get off track at times and if we do we must then do a reset. It is not as simple as hitting a reset button, but it is not complicated either. Below are ten ways you can use to organize, reset and maintain a good life free of stress, anxiety and anger. Try one or all and see how it works for you. You can make your own list and go with that. If you have realized your off track, hit the reset and push forward and live your best life.

1st Corinthians 14:40; But all things should be done decently and in order.

Proverbs 10:4; A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

  1. Develop good habits and build a daily routine. Being on a routine helps you at work, in life, with family and in general. It keeps you on track and helps you maintain a pattern of positivity.
  2. Plan ahead- Avoid last minute decisions, actions and reactions. Planning your day, your week your vacation and other life activity will keep you on track.
  3. Be consistent with life and relationships. Consistency adds to the routine and keeps stress away from your life.
  4. Know yourself- Know who you are and what you are about. Take a good look at the person in the mirror on occasion to reset any inconsistencies you see happening.
  5. Life life with a positive attitude- Life will beat you up, will have ups and downs but the attitude you pursue life with will determine how things go and the consistency you need to be sane, mentally stable and reactionary to these events.
  6. Expect things to go wrong at times. A plan is great and in life we will get off track from those plans. Be on the lookout for these times and adjust your actions and reactions to meet them head on. Do not allow these things to derail your life and patterns.
  7. Seek balance in life. Balancing life, family, work, activity, and all the other obligations require planning, commitment and energy.
  8. Declutter and simplify when possible- If you feel overwhelmed by constantly cleaning things then declutter. Simplify life by living simpler and being smarter with your time and energy. Down size, use basic things, meet your needs and not wants and see how that will declutter and simplify your life.
  9. Automate everything you can- Pay your bills electronically, use delivery services, use the internet and services designed to make life less complicated. Doing this frees up time, stress, reduces anxiety and gives you better organization in life.
  10. Measure your life progress- How are you doing with life, stress, organization, goals, family, friends and commitments. Measure it and hold yourself accountable to a better organized and stress free life.

Faith: Christian Character

Being a person of faith requires us to be committed to a cause of good and right. We must stand firm, stand strong and be faithful in life. Today I was reading the Bible about good character and being a good person. Character is defined as the actions, reactions, morals, views and mental awareness of a person. God defines character in Galatians 5: 22-23; as “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law”. Lets take a quick look at each of these characteristics of a good person as given to us by God. These are his expectations for life and being of good character.

Love- Loving others is the first step to building relationships, managing relationships and living your best life. We have to love one another through the good, bad and ugly.

Joy- We must live a life of joy. We must have inner peace and joy in our lives to maintain a healthy relationship with people and God. God is joy so live life with joy.

Peace- Living a life that is full of strife, anxiety and craziness does not offer peace. We need peace in life to have a healthy attitude and mental outlook.

I could go on and on about all of these virtues, characteristics God calls us to have. I only ask that you sit down, do some thinking, do some research and reading about what it takes to be of good character. If you follow this simple verse from God’s word you can live your best life and meet his expectations along the way. Submit yourself to being kind, patient, loving, faithful, gentle and good. Read the verses below for more word of God on how to live your life and be the best character you can. That will let your light shine to others and make the world a better place for all.

Philippians 4:8; Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Romans 12:2; Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

1st Corinthians 15:31; Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”