Run in such a way as to get the prize (p. 2)

January 10, 2011

Okay, here’s Part 2 of my Welcome to 2011 Point of View counsel. If your career activities are anything like mine, you spent 2010 trying to rake your yard during a hurricane. Your efforts had little effect, against the 100+ MPH winds that pummeled the Marketplace.

Last week, we packed up the residue from 2010 and put it in the attic; today, I want you to make some commitments – to yourself, but even more, to God – regarding the things that you have the power to effect, no matter what the circumstances around you might be. How can you assure that 2011 will produce noteworthy progress in the things that matter the most? Here are five agendas for consideration:

1.

I will do whatever I have to do to improve my relationships?

 

Here’s the tough reality: you can do absolutely nothing to affect the Dow for next year-end… but, you can be in complete control of the quality of your relationships at the end of this calendar year! What current human relationships are anemic, but could thrive if you made the conscious effort to encourage them? What holes do you have in your relational fabric that will never be filled until you pursue their solution? If not this year, then when? Things have not changed since Eden: “…It is not good for the man (or, woman) to be alone…” (Genesis 2:18) What will you do to improve or expand your relationships this year?

2.

I will do whatever I have to do to increase my freedom?

 

Most people around you are slaves; even the well-dressed ones. Debt, habits, dead-end jobs, false self-perspectives; all kinds of hindrances to freedom. Every time you say, “I can’t” about something about which God says, “You should,” you’re putting your bondage on display. Will this be a year of liberation for you? “You were bought at a price; do not become slaves…” (I Corinthians 7:23) Are you planning to multiply your personal freedom in the coming year?

3.

I will do whatever I have to do to intensify my passion?

 

Even lost people are on the hunt for personal passion. Christians should be the most passionate people on the planet; instead, we often are seen as the people whose wood is too wet to burn. Are you fired-up, or shut-down? Do people who need to be inspired and motivated avoid you, or do they run to catch you? The men who spent time with Jesus understood passion: “…Were not our ears burning within us while he talked with us on the road?” (Luke 24:32) Do people have that same experience when they talk with you?

4.

I will do whatever I have to do to expand my perspective?

 

May I be brutally blunt? Most of the folks around us are very underexposed to the real world. It’s very easy to live in a Five-Star bubble where everything is clean, neat, fast, plastic… and temporary. The best stuff in life is eternal, invisible, expensive… and comes packed in some pain. Do you see the world through God’s eyes? Paul wanted his friends to “…abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that (they) might discern what is best…” (Philippians 1:9-10). What are you doing to expand your perspective now? What would you do?

5.

I will do whatever I have to do to strengthen my spirit?

 

You can’t do that one alone; Paul prayed for his friends that God would “…strengthen (them) with power through His spirit… so that Christ may dwell in (their) hearts through faith …”(Ephesians 3:16-17). Are you asking your Christian friends to pray that prayer for you?

Now those are some heady resolutions for the New Year! Wouldn’t they be worth some effort? They are for me! If you and I could pull those off, we wouldn’t be new, but we’d sure be improved!

With your permission, I’m going to continue to challenge your thinking every Monday morning with some ideas to help build your relationships, freedom, passion, perspective… and strength!

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1 Comment

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