Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.

We’ve all heard this time-honored serenity prayer before. But did you know that when Reinhold Neibuhr  wrote that he didn’t stop there.

Yes…there is more to the serenity prayer. And…I believe that the rest of it is actually even more profound.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; accepting hardship 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. ~ Reinhold Neibuhr

Not only is it about accepting the things that you can’t change. It is also about accepting the trials in life as a way to become a better person–a person of character. But along with accepting those trials, you also accept the God-given strength to get through them as well as the peace that there is more to this life than this life.