Friday, February 17, 2006
Guidelines for Doing Hard Things--1st draft
If you've ever visited The Rebelution blog, you've probably seen their motto Do Hard Things.™ This has come to mind as I've watched the Olympics. I've seen them doing hard things all over the place! They didn't start out at that level. They worked at the little things which led to medium things to finally big things.
Last night I watched a short synopsis of the men's figure skating gold medalist, Plushenko. He did many hard things. He had to in order to become the best. He even left his family when he was 11 years old in order to skate! Wait, wait! Is this just part of doing hard things? Does working toward a goal mean we should be willing to sacrifice everything in order to achieve it?
For a figure skater, what happens when they've won all the medals and titles they can? No matter how much one loves it, you can't skate forever. Your body will grow old and sadly not be able to do the jumps and spins you once found easy. Was the goal worth going for? And if so, how much should or shouldn't one have sacrificed in order to achieve it?
For Christians, it's more than just doing hard things. (It's having questions like this come to mind when you're just sitting back watching the Olympics. ;-) I believe that the Bible gives us some guidelines we're called to follow in everything we do. And if we follow them, we'll not only accomplish great things, but Christ will be honored as we do them!
God is to Be Glorified
Is your goal to be the best? That's not necessarily bad in and of itself. God wants you to use the talents He's given you to your best ability. Remember the parable of the talents in Matthew 25?
The Family
Once you've checked your motivation, it's time to search the Bible in order to find those important things that can not be sacrificed for the goal. The first institution given in the Bible is the family. God speaks highly of marriage. It is the example we have here on earth of Christ's love for His bride, the church. Children are seen as a blessings, arrows to be guided and shot into the world. With this in mind, do the hard things you do tear apart this institution which God prizes so highly? So often I see missionaries save whole tribes and yet lose their own children. They sacrificed the prize God gave them and should have held dear! Don't push off your parents and siblings in order to achieve something you believe to be higher and more worthy. After God, your first duty is to your family. Trust me, hard things start here.
The Church
The chosen bride of Christ, those purified with His blood, is the church. Christ gave Himself for her! The fellowship of believers should be important to Christians. We're warned against "forsaking the assembling of ourselves together" (Hebrews 9:25). But it's more than getting together for an hour on Sundays. It involves worshiping, bearing one another's burdens, encouraging, fellowshipping, and sometimes even disciplining. The church is too important in our lives to be neglected.
God's Word
The light for our paths, God's word is to be the guide in all things. When we want to know what best glorifies Him, how to work within our family, or why the church is so important, we should look to His word. When doing hard things, we need to remember that God will never call us to do something that contradicts His word.
Doing hard things is what we're called to do as Christians. But as always, there are guidelines to follow. Not to worry, though. Everything we need to know is outlined in His word. It all comes down to
From The Rebelution:
Part 1: Do Hard Things™
Part 2: Do New Things
Part 3: A New Attitude Towards Happiness
Part 4: Hard Things™ Come in Small Packages
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I had to get this written while I was in the mood. ;-) Please let me know what you think, anything you think I should add/subtract, verses to include, etc!
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Last night I watched a short synopsis of the men's figure skating gold medalist, Plushenko. He did many hard things. He had to in order to become the best. He even left his family when he was 11 years old in order to skate! Wait, wait! Is this just part of doing hard things? Does working toward a goal mean we should be willing to sacrifice everything in order to achieve it?
For a figure skater, what happens when they've won all the medals and titles they can? No matter how much one loves it, you can't skate forever. Your body will grow old and sadly not be able to do the jumps and spins you once found easy. Was the goal worth going for? And if so, how much should or shouldn't one have sacrificed in order to achieve it?
For Christians, it's more than just doing hard things. (It's having questions like this come to mind when you're just sitting back watching the Olympics. ;-) I believe that the Bible gives us some guidelines we're called to follow in everything we do. And if we follow them, we'll not only accomplish great things, but Christ will be honored as we do them!
God is to Be Glorified
Is your goal to be the best? That's not necessarily bad in and of itself. God wants you to use the talents He's given you to your best ability. Remember the parable of the talents in Matthew 25?
For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey...And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents...His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord...Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord...I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant...We don't want to be like the man who dug a hole and buried the talent that was given to him. We want to be the one who worked hard and multiplied it. But doing our best also involves a motivation that needs to be checked. Why do we want to be the best? Is it to bring honor and glory to God or is it to bring honor and glory to yourself? The hard things we do in life should always reflect back to our Savior and Lord. Like the song, we should be able to say, "In all I do, I honor You."
The Family
Once you've checked your motivation, it's time to search the Bible in order to find those important things that can not be sacrificed for the goal. The first institution given in the Bible is the family. God speaks highly of marriage. It is the example we have here on earth of Christ's love for His bride, the church. Children are seen as a blessings, arrows to be guided and shot into the world. With this in mind, do the hard things you do tear apart this institution which God prizes so highly? So often I see missionaries save whole tribes and yet lose their own children. They sacrificed the prize God gave them and should have held dear! Don't push off your parents and siblings in order to achieve something you believe to be higher and more worthy. After God, your first duty is to your family. Trust me, hard things start here.
The Church
The chosen bride of Christ, those purified with His blood, is the church. Christ gave Himself for her! The fellowship of believers should be important to Christians. We're warned against "forsaking the assembling of ourselves together" (Hebrews 9:25). But it's more than getting together for an hour on Sundays. It involves worshiping, bearing one another's burdens, encouraging, fellowshipping, and sometimes even disciplining. The church is too important in our lives to be neglected.
God's Word
The light for our paths, God's word is to be the guide in all things. When we want to know what best glorifies Him, how to work within our family, or why the church is so important, we should look to His word. When doing hard things, we need to remember that God will never call us to do something that contradicts His word.
Doing hard things is what we're called to do as Christians. But as always, there are guidelines to follow. Not to worry, though. Everything we need to know is outlined in His word. It all comes down to
"...not what I say, what you say, what he says—but what saith the Lord!" -AugustineDoing Hard Things is part of the Christian life, but it is the guidelines we follow that help to fulfill our calling of glorifying God!
From The Rebelution:
Part 1: Do Hard Things™
Part 2: Do New Things
Part 3: A New Attitude Towards Happiness
Part 4: Hard Things™ Come in Small Packages
------
I had to get this written while I was in the mood. ;-) Please let me know what you think, anything you think I should add/subtract, verses to include, etc!
