The Beautiful Counsel of Paul

In Paul's letters to the Thessalonians he gives them a lot of advice. He even lists out some attributes that they should seek to acquire or improve upon. Whether the Thessalonians actually took his advice or not I do not know, but I do know that Paul probably would give this advice to more than just the Thessalonians. So I have listed out the things that Paul suggests to work on. I believe this is a list we should always be working on so I will post it here.

• Love one another
• Walk and please God
• Abstain from fornication
• Honor your body
• Don't take advantage of others
• Don't despise
• Study to be quiet
• Work with your own hands
• Be honest
• Watch
• Be sober
• Have faith
• Have hope of Salvation
• Keep the commandments
• Walk orderly
• Work
• Live in harmony with God
• Edify one another
• Be at peace among each other
• Comfort the feebleminded
• Support the weak
• Be patient
• Follow that which is good
• Rejoice
• Pray without ceasing
• Give thanks
• Prove/Examine/Test all things
• Abstain from the appearance of evil
• Pray for others
• Withdraw from unrighteousness
• Don't be a busy-body

Looking through this list I would find a few areas that I don't feel I have problems with at all, but others that I should probably work on a little bit more. So what do I plan to do about it?
First, is the attribute of praying for others. I love to pray! I love to ask for advice and give thanks to a loving Father! However, I find that recently I have rarely been  praying for anyone, but myself. If I want to build the kingdom then how am I ever going to get somewhere by only trying build myself. Thus, I have decided to try something in my prayers. You know how we are often given ideas for how to give thanks by saying one thing you're grateful for for every thing that you ask for? I believe the same thing could work with praying for others. For every thing I ask for myself I will also ask for something for someone else. This does not mean it has to be really specific because I don't know what everyone needs, but I can even just pray for the world, which is kind of a cool thought.
Second, is something we could all probably work on a little bit more: love one another. I don't know if you've noticed, but we live in a selfish world. I seek for what is best for me, not necessarily those around me. I always want to further myself. What if I put that same effort into those around me? What if I cared enough to help my roommates and classmates improve as much as I seek to improve? I think praying for others will greatly help in this idea, but I believe it will take a lot more work than that. I will have to be accepting and learn to help others without sounding like I think I'm any better than them, because I'm not. I will watch my thoughts. I will stop a judgmental thought before it goes too far. I will share advice when I find it appropriate and not hold back what I can help with. I will also accept help from others when they want to help. This way I will learn to love.
Finally, Paul told the Thessalonians to walk orderly. I'm  not sure that this is what he meant, but it's how I'm taking it, to organize your life so that you are getting things done in an orderly fashion and doing what the Lord would have you do. Now, I do keep a planner and I write down everything that I need to accomplish. However, I have a difficult time sticking to that planner. I mostly just do whatever I feel like at the moment and then I wonder why I have wasted so much time. I believe that if I changed this then I would get a lot more done and feel better about myself at the end of the day. So I propose two things for me to do. First, I will make a reasonable schedule in my planner and stick to it the best I can. Second, I will listen a little harder for what I need to be doing. I know that the Lord probably has provided service opportunities for me all around, but I am too busy to listen. So I will listen and try my best to do. Hopefully I will then feel better at the end of the day.
Thank You Paul!