We are like tea bags, we don't know what we're capable of until we get into hot water.

(Daniel 3:26, 27 NIV) "Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them."

Some say "no pain, to gain". We can also say "no love, no gain"

1 Corinthians 13:3 NIV "If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing."

How much we love is more important than how much we know.

1 Corinthians 13:2 NIV "If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."

A life without love is like "The Gong Show" with no Show.

1 Corinthians 13:1 (NIV) If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

Being perfect may not always be possible, but there's always room to get better.

2 Peter 1:5-7(NIV) - 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

Like Elvis said "A little less conversation, a little more action"

1 John 3:18 (NIV) Let us not love with words and tongue but with actions and in truth.

"The real issue, isn't WHY we have problems and temptations but HOW we will respond." Billy Graham

Hebrews 4:15 (NIV) For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet he did not sin.

I'm grateful that continued effort to do our best leads to truth and then to freedom.

(John 8:31,32) ... Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

I hope conflict and hardship serve as step stools to help us reach higher.

(Psalm 110:1) The Lord says to my lord “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”

I hope we always finish what we start.

(2 Timothy 4:7 NIV) I [Paul] have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.