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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Crosswalk devotional.

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Speaker 3: We're glad to have you listening with us. Today's topic

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Speaker 3: is how to live a quiet life in a loud World.

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Speaker 3: We'll return with the devotional after a brief message from

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Speaker 3: our sponsors. How to Live a Quiet Life in a

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Speaker 3: Loud World, written and read by Whitney Hoppler. Make it

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Speaker 3: your ambition to lead a quiet life. You should mind

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Speaker 3: your own business and work with your hands, just as

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Speaker 3: we told you, so that your daily life may win

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Speaker 3: the respective outsiders, and so that you would not be

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Speaker 3: dependent on anybody. First Thessalonians for a Lee through twelve.

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Speaker 3: The benefits of being quiet often show up in well

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Speaker 3: being research I work with at George Mason University's Center

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Speaker 3: for the Advancement of Well Being. Leading a quiet life

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Speaker 3: can be useful for stress relief.

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Speaker 2: Focus, creativity, and more. When we're quiet, our minds can

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Speaker 2: process and reflect on the constant stream of information coming

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Speaker 2: at us every day. That can prevent us from becoming

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Speaker 2: overwhelmed and help us to discover what matters most. The

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Speaker 2: constant barrage of messages competing for our attention remind us

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Speaker 2: that we live in a very loud world. Our society

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Speaker 2: celebrates the people who shout their opinions, even about people

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Speaker 2: and situations they don't know personally, if we're not trying

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Speaker 2: to push others to pay attention to us, they can

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Speaker 2: feel like we're falling behind. But these verses from Verst

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Speaker 2: Thessalonians show up us that living quietly is a much

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Speaker 2: wiser choice. It's fascinating that the word ambition is connected

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Speaker 2: with a quiet life. Usually when we think of ambition,

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Speaker 2: we think of getting noticed by other people. But God

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Speaker 2: encourages us to be ambitious by minding our own business

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Speaker 2: rather than trying to get other people's attention. Minding our

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Speaker 2: own business is challenging in this loud world. Our social

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Speaker 2: media urges us to be monitoring other people's lives and

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Speaker 2: to keep updating them on our lives, whether or not

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Speaker 2: they actually care. It also urges us to judge what's

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Speaker 2: happening in the world and to shout out our opinions

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Speaker 2: on those situations, even if we haven't studied them well

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Speaker 2: enough to have informed opinions. But First Thessalonians for eleven

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Speaker 2: through twelve describes another kind of ambition. We can be

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Speaker 2: ambitious by making better choices. How society is pressuring us.

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Speaker 2: We can stop wasting our time and energy by reclaiming

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Speaker 2: our attention and choosing to invest it in what matters most,

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Speaker 2: our relationships with God and the people we know personally

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Speaker 2: in real life. These Bible verses encourage us to work

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Speaker 2: with our hands. There's something sacred about using the hands

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Speaker 2: God gave us to do our work. Whether we're typing

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Speaker 2: on computer keyboards, serving meals, fixing cars, performing surgery, or

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Speaker 2: any other one of countless types of jobs, we use

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Speaker 2: our hands. Somehow, Focusing on the work we do with

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Speaker 2: our hands grounds us and reminds us God created us

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Speaker 2: to be productive and to contribute to our world. We

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Speaker 2: can find fulfillment from doing our best at work. When

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Speaker 2: we focus on doing the task in front of us

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Speaker 2: with excellence and integrity, we can find a sense of

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Speaker 2: purpose that doesn't need a like or share to be valid.

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Speaker 2: Working with our hands while doing our best for God

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Speaker 2: turns our daily chores and professional duties into a form

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Speaker 2: of quiet worship. When we do so, we can win

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Speaker 2: the respect of those around us. Other people are watching

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Speaker 2: how we live in this loud world that's full of drama.

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Speaker 2: People who are hard working and peaceful stand out. Our

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Speaker 2: quiet lives become powerful testimonies that show others our security

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Speaker 2: comes from something much deeper than the latest trend. Living

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Speaker 2: quietly also leads us to a healthy independence. When we

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Speaker 2: work diligently and live simply, we're able to bless others

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Speaker 2: instead of burdening them unnecessarily. Living in a quiet life

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Speaker 2: doesn't prevent us from speaking up. We can and should

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Speaker 2: speak up against evil and to share the gospel whenever

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Speaker 2: God leads us to do so. But living quietly does

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Speaker 2: mean that we stop trying to prove our worth by

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Speaker 2: calling out for attention and simply resting with confidence in

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Speaker 2: our identities as God's beloved children. In this fallen world

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Speaker 2: where too many people are shouting at each other, we

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Speaker 2: can ambitiously choose a better lifestyle of quiet work and

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Speaker 2: loves intersecting faith and life. As you consider how to

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Speaker 2: live a quiet life in a loud world, reflect on

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Speaker 2: these questions. What's one loud part of your life social media, television, etc.

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Speaker 2: That you can quiet down this week to find more peace.

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Speaker 2: How does the idea of minding your own business challenge

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Speaker 2: you right now? In what ways can you see working

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Speaker 2: with your hands on your daily tasks as a way

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Speaker 2: to worship God. Why do you think society.

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Speaker 4: Can make you feel guilty for seeking a simpler life?

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Speaker 4: This one person you know, just outside your inner circles

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Speaker 4: of friends and family, someone like a neighbor or a coworker,

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Speaker 4: who might be positively impacted by seeing you faithfully live

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Speaker 4: a quiet life. Further reading Psalm forty six', Ten isaiah

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Speaker 4: thirty fifteen, One timothy two one to, Two ecclesiastes four,

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Speaker 4: Six matthew six.

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Speaker 2: Six thanks for listening to today's.

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Speaker 1: Devotional if you liked what you heard, today we want

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