One Word

Happy Friday, Friends!

 

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama!

 

I am currently reading the book, Think Ahead: 7 Decisions You Can Make Today for The God-Honoring Life You Want Tomorrow, by Craig Groeschel. This book is so good!!! I would highly recommend it to you.

 

Last Sunday I was reading Chapter 3.1 which is titled One Word. Wow! Just wow! I thought it was so good that I read it to my entire family when we all got together that night and we then talked about it. On Monday at Rotary, guess what the topic of conversation was? Yep, one word.

 

This is one of those that is so good that what I am going to do with this Happy Friday, in addition to encouraging you to get the book, is to share the things from this short chapter that I highlighted. I am pretty sure it will speak to you.

 

“If you could choose a one-word goal to describe your life, what would it be? Let’s say this word represents your character and summarizes what you stand for and achieved.”

 

“Why am I so convinced this is the best word?

Because when we get to heaven, if we have lived a life that pleases God, he’s not going to say, “Well done, my good and successful servant,” or “Well done my good and influential servant,” or “Well done my good and happy servant.” I’m guessing God wants us to be successful, influential, and happy, but I don’t think they’re his top priorities. When we get to heaven, if we’ve lived a life that pleases him, God will say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” (Matt. 25:21 NLT)”

 

“We’re pre-deciding to be faithful because we will never be faithful by accident. You may have a fluke day of faithfulness, but no one is faithful day after day after day without great intentionality.

Why?

Because we love what’s easy. But being faithful is rarely easy. Right? It’s never difficult to cut corners, fudge the truth, or take the easy way out. But living with integrity, doing what’s right, and honoring God consistently takes a lot of work (and a lot of help from God).”

 

“To be faithful we will need to learn to trust God instead of relying on ourselves. Habakkuk 2:4 tells us, “Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God” (NLT). In our prideful self-dependence, we often trust in our wisdom, our knowledge, our goodness, our abilities, or our bank account. But Scripture says that those who trust in themselves have crooked lives.”

 

“If you study the Gospels, you’ll see that Jesus talks about faithfulness in three specific contexts. He talks about faithfulness in how you treat people, how you steward resources, and how you respond to God. So, we are going to make three faithful pre-decisions:

1.      Every interaction is an opportunity to add value.

2.     Every resource is an opportunity to multiply.

3.     Every prompting is an opportunity to obey God.”

 

Pretty good stuff, isn’t it? So, if you could choose a one-word goal to describe your life, what would it be? New day, new opportunity…we all get to choose!

 

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

 

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious family, and please stay well!

Kev