Life with God is an individual matter, and general formulas do not easily apply.

As a Christian, my main concern is not to downgrade others' beliefs but to examine my own.

Sometimes you have to toot your own horn because nobody else is going to do it.

All my life, even as an actor, I felt like I was really trying to be dutiful, which sometimes got in my way of being creative and being an artist.

Do you seek Alcides' equal? None is, except himself.

So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step" (verse 26 NLT). That is exactly what every human being should do—run with certainty and purpose to win. We are not competing against others, only ourselves.

When we blame others and defend our own position, we are blind. We struggle to remove the speck out of our brother's eye while there is a log in ours. It is the revelation of truth that brings freedom to us. When the Spirit of God shows us our sin, He always does it in such a way that it seems separate from us. This brings conviction, not condemnation.

Loosed of his burden, Christian makes his way to the bottom of the hill where he finds three men fast asleep. Foolish represents spiritual dullness and ignorance. Sloth represents spiritual laziness. Presumption represents spiritual pride and arrogance. The consequences of all three conditions are self-inflicted incarceration and lack of progress on the King's Highway.

Every tub must stand upon its own without the need of assistance.

I did it my own self to gratify.

Comparing yourself to others is really just a needless distraction. The only one you should compare yourself to is you. Your mission is to become better today than you were yesterday. You do that by focusing on what you can do today to improve and grow.

Nothing will make a better impression on your leader than your ability to manage yourself. If your leader must continually expend energy managing you, then you will be perceived as someone who drains time and energy. If you manage yourself well, however, your boss will see you as someone who maximizes opportunities and leverages personal strengths. That will make you someone your leader turns to when the heat is on.