The Challenge of Moving Forward

     

            The athlete, the musician, the student, and the basic laborer all know that doing only the minimum will not lead to improvement or advancement. Any one of these who challenge themselves to be more, to do more, and to aim for the next step of improvement, to be the best in their field will bring about recognition and acknowledgment. This approach is true in the life of everyone, regardless of the vocation one chooses to pursue.

               Everyone has the same amount of time each day, each week, each month, and each year. He who chooses to use his time to improve himself, to challenge himself and not be distracted by the empty world of social media, entertainment and small talk. One can easily get lost while doom scrolling to lose hours a day that bring nothing of value into one’s life.

               You can use up your time with empty distraction, or you can use your time in prayer, in reading books of value, or interacting with others who will help you improve, all of which will fill your mind with content of value and the opportunity to become a better person. Think of your time as a commodity which you do not want to waste but rather use to make yourself a better version of you.

               When given the opportunity, do you choose to each fast food, snacks, soda, and candy, or do you take in food with actual nutritional value that will strengthen your body, fill you with energy that makes your body healthy and whole? Whatever it is that you put into your heart and mind is what you will find yourself thinking about and dwelling on.

               If your goal is to be holy and move toward truth, goodness, light, and beauty, then put those things in your heart and mind. Don’t fill yourself with the inanity of Hollywood, pop culture, or silly distraction. The first step toward truth and beauty is to begin documenting how you spend your time, what you are putting into your mind, and honestly assessing the wisdom of your approach.

               If this is a place of struggle for you, find someone to help you, challenge you, and be critical of how you use your time and with what you fill yourself. If you need to answer to someone, know that if you choose the right person, they will help you move forward.

What Happens Next?

 

            Our lives are rarely our own, we make decisions, we interact with others, we receive advice from others sometimes when we have not asked for their input. Many people live in a way thinking that they are in control, that their thoughts, words, and actions will move them in the direction they want to go. But unfortunately, the thoughts, words, and actions of others can have an impact on the quality or direction of our life.

               One could say that sometimes accidents happen, or the unforeseen takes place and causes either positive or negative influence upon us. He who is deluded enough to think that he is in perfect control of his life, will often end up learning that there are some people who have issue with them and want to see them fail.

               If you have ever gone on a walk and part way through that walk picked up a small rock on the inside of your shoe, if you don’t remove that pebble sooner than later, the walk will become awkward and painful. Sometimes in our lives, we meet people, we interact with people, and we allow them to negatively impact us. If we are wise, we will recognize the problems that others bring upon us and we will learn to avoid them and cut them off.

               We should frequently ask ourselves, “What happens next?” If you are humble enough to seek advice from those who are wiser than you, you may gain insight that you were unable to pick up without the positive input from others. What thoughts, what speech, and what actions will you do to move you in a good direction and up to the next best step for you to improve yourself? 

Cut off the negative, embrace the positive, and seek for those people who will help you, challenge you, and push you toward that which is good and right and true. Think of input from others in the same way that you think about your food intake. If you only eat fast food, empty calories, and soda, your body will become flaccid and weak. Take into your heart and mind the people who will help you become a better you.

Taking on a Label

 

            If you are one who calls himself a Christian, why do you take this label and on what are you basing this claim? To build a foundation for the basis of this question, one will label oneself in certain ways under the influence of the culture in which he lives. One person can make claims about himself based on his interpretation of reality, while others may look at them and come to different conclusions.

               One can easily deceive himself into thinking certain things, while others will see through the self-deception and understand you differently. Simply attending an American Evangelical church service once a week does not make one a Christian. Our thoughts, our words, and our behavior will define us in ways that should correspond with our claim to being a follower of Jesus Christ.

               If we sit and are entertained in an American Evangelical service for an hour, that is hardly grounds for labeling oneself a follower of Christ. Does the way you talk about others, the way you treat others, and your lifestyle during the rest of the week align with the life that Jesus and the apostles teach in the New Testament?

               Are you loving? Are you judgmental? Are you kind and generous? Or is your life centered around making yourself comfortable and distracted? Think of your life in this way. Jesus taught his disciples, who became apostles, who then taught the first generation of Christians and that pattern has been ongoing since the first century.  What one sees and hears in the most American Evangelical services is nothing like what one sees in the last two thousand years of Christian history.

               Is your life in alignment with Jesus’ teaching, the apostles teaching, and the examples of holy people through the last twenty centuries?