From the Inside Out!

In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. - 2 Peter 1:5-7  

As of late, I've been watching too many people faltering on their life commitments (marriage, ministry and kids) and I'm confused!  How could  they?  Why would they?  I been asking these questions and listening for some understanding and so let me share with you what I've been hearing and maybe we can learn some things together.

Filipe was talking about something that he learned in Growing Kids Gods Way class that he and Mandy are attending.  This was the quote, "The best thing that we can give our children is a great marriage."  This got me to thinking about how so often we look at others and how to impact them and spend all of our time and energy on helping them and neglect ourselves.  THE BEST THING WE CAN GIVE OTHERS IS HEALTHY US!

I'm getting ready to build a house and I'm amazed at all that it takes to make it happen.  Planning, counting the cost, clearing the land, laying the foundation, building the walls . . . if I neglect just one detail I'm screwed!  The same goes for my life and my life commitments.  As Peter wrote in the verse above we have to be intentional in building our lives starting form the deepest parts of who we are and letting them work their ways out into the open.  

The key to all of this kind of debunks the whole thing that I learned as a kid in Sunday School about the word J-O-Y.  J-esus first, O-thers second and Y-ourself last. It's a cute thought but if you follow this way of thinking by placing yourself in last place you may just find yourself faltering on your life commitments.  I'm not talking about being selfish.  What I am talking about is making sure that you are feeding yourself spiritually, taking care of your health, keeping yourself filled with the Holy Spirit and making sure that no matter what that you are always getting poured into by someone stronger and wiser than yourself. 

These are my thoughts and I'm not God just Rod!