Proverbs 15:17 Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.

      We can do better, but we have to want to. We can do better and we can be better at who we are and how we grow as individuals. However, we will have to want it and put action to it much more than just saying it with no heartfelt desire of changing.
      There was a man whose name was Jabez. We get an idea of his life being rough and not fair because his mother named him after her sorrowful delivery while giving birth. Furthermore, he seems to have had brothers who were not honoring toward him. 1 Chro. 4:9 And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow. Jabez was named after a bad experience, and love seemed to be missing in his life. Prov. 15:17 Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.       
      Many people use excuses of their dysfunctional upbringing and poor circumstances to determine their poor choices in life. Jails are full of people who say they just could not make anything of their lives because of their poverty, alcoholic and drug-addicted family members, and poor choices of friends. Escape from these problems was impossible, and jail was inevitable. This is the tale they tell continually. I do agree that hard environments can cause a trend of lawlessness and self-esteem difficulties when there are no honorable role models. However, the final choices we make are still our own. We have to want to change in order to change. We cannot just wish upon a star and voila, it’s done.
      Jabez wanted something more than what he had. He felt things could be better. He felt he could do better, so he went to God in faith with a simple prayer. 1 Chro. 4:10 He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!” And God granted him his request. Jabez was dealing with troubles and pain, and it caused him to consider God and not choose a destructive life path as some of his brothers did. Jabez wanted what everyone wants, but he had the sense to go to the Creator of life and ask for it.
      Maybe you feel stuck in a dead-end job with no hope for the future. Then ask God for the courage to want to change who you are and not fear thinking you could do better. You may have lived with a just-get-by life and you have a dream that things could be better. Ask God to bless you and expand your territory. Even our Lord Jesus wanted a better covenant for us. He did it with the work of the cross. Heb. 8:6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. The Lord’s heart for us was and is for something better and we just have to say, “Yes Lord, I want that better covenant and all the blessings that come with it.”
      We can all do better because the Lord of glory lives within us. We were once dead in our trespasses and sins, but no longer do we have to stay there. We have been delivered from those shackles and we can now move forward with Christ, overcoming the troubles and the pain that once had control of our lives. 
      Like Jabez, we can ask God to give us more territory and a larger sphere of influence in the kingdom of God, plus a better life purpose. We just have to want it with all of our hearts. That is the true depth of the prayer Jabez released by faith. He wanted something much more and the plea of his heart was heard on high. Jabez was serious and meant what he was asking. How serious are you about changing your destiny, or is it all just talk?
      No Saints. We can do better. There comes a time when we must realize that when we come to God with a simple an honest request, He will hear us. It is time to believe that life can be better. Eph. 3:20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Blessings to you.