On Purpose

Do you do things on purpose or do you allow yourself to be carried along by the stream?

When we look at our days, we can throw up our hands and give up, saying that it’s out of control and there’s nothing we can do.

OR

When we look at our days, we can accept what is out of our control and take responsibility for the rest.

The catch is that we are responsible for how we use our time, whether we respond well or try to avoid that responsibility. The choice is ours to work diligently or not. The attitude we have is also our choice.

Think about this:
Being carried along by flowing water works great IF you want to go where it’s going. If you have another direction or endpoint in mind, the flow is working against you.

So do you know where you should go?

The danger in floating along without knowing the destination is that we may have an unpleasant surprise or disaster coming any minute.

If you have thought about where you are going and what it takes to get there, you are set up to handle the surprises that do come along the way. With purpose, you have reasons and guides for how you adjust. You can keep moving in the right direction, even if that involves a little detour.

  • You can love your neighbor with purposeful acts, or you can wish that an occasion comes up at a convenient time.
  • You can make time for priorities, or you can hope that they fit in somewhere.
  • You can set up an action plan for a responsibility, or you can assume that it will all work out somehow.
  • You can work to be kind with deliberate acts and words, or you can just want to be kind.

Why are you doing what you are doing today?

Better Than Yesterday

Often, especially at the start of the year, we get overwhelmed by the ideal. We want to accomplish. We want to be. We want to do.

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The ideal may be good and true. But this life is a journey. Sanctification is a process. We become better over time, not with a magic wand in a moment. Remember, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Looking at an ideal or an ambitious goal is usually intimidating and overwhelming. But take a deep breath, step back, and adjust.

What if you simply work toward today being better than yesterday?

  • Day-by-day dependence on God highlights his daily grace in your life and provision of daily bread.
  • Steady progress over time is healthy and sustainable. (Healthy living vs. diets, anyone?)
  • A clean slate each day is a motivating fresh start when needed. If the best you could hope for today was keeping your head above water — tomorrow is coming!

Take advantage of the resources available to you, whether that be through people you know or online or at the library. We are blessed with so much to use for learning and growing. A friend encouraging along the way and holding you accountable helps a ton (and keeps you from settling for less out of laziness or discouragement). Technology has downsides, but it also offers many tools for supporting your personal growth.

Just one bite. A little bit better today. Just better. Just today.