Sermon Text: Heb 2:1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
If you feel deeply passionate about achieving a certain goal then nothing should be able to stop you from reaching it.
How many of us actually complete projects? Why do we put things off until tomorrow? I know someone who was still sewing her wedding dress two hours before her wedding! Why do we constantly create crises in our lives through incomplete projects?
We don’t always put something off because we are not able to perform the task. We may put it off because—for some reason—we do not want to do it.
Hab 2:3 For the vision is still for an appointed time, but it speaks to the end, and it does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it; because it will surely come. It will not tarry.
Here are some of the reasons why people put off jobs that they can actually do:
Fear of failure: You would rather not attempt the task because if you fail and others find out it would destroy you, so you don’t even try. | |
Anger: When you are angry with someone, you often don’t want to perform at your best. | |
Frustration: Feelings of frustration involving the task in hand—or even from other causes—can bring all your efforts to a standstill. | |
Boredom: You don’t really want to do something any more, because you’ve lost interest in it. | |
Obstacles: Some problems seem too hard to overcome, so you just give up. | |
Low self-esteem: Feelings of inadequacy may prevent you from completing a project. | |
Lack of knowledge or skill: You don’t know how to perform the task, but you don’t want to admit this, so you give up instead of asking for help. | |
Not enough time: The project will take too long, so you stop doing it. |
If you want to stop procrastinating you will need to take responsibility for your non-performance.
Psa 139:23 O God, let the secrets of my heart be uncovered, and let my wandering thoughts be tested: 24 See if there is any way of sorrow in me, and be my guide in the eternal way.
Become accountable!
Personal accountability is a matter of choice.
It is one thing to submit and to be accountable to a mentor or a boss or a manager but it is a totally different kettle of fish, to be accountable to oneself. And to be open and honest at it.
David made a personal choice, he sat down and invited God in, to examine his heart and to show him, where change is needed.
To see, admit and then earnestly desire change and development within oneself, takes guts, hard work and a brutal kind of humbleness.
But, it is possible. And once I can become accountable to myself, being accountable to others becomes a peach.
Psa 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God! I will be praised among the nations, I will be praised in the earth.
Select a quiet spot, and review and reflect:
- When did I fail today and why?
- Where did I succeed and why?
- When did I give love today?
- Where did I receive love today?
- What habits and patterns do I notice in my day?
- In what ways did I notice God in my day?
- When did I feel most alive? Most drained?
- When did I have the greatest sense of belonging? The least sense of belonging?
- When was I most free? Least free?
- When was I most creative? Least creative?
- When did I feel most fully myself? Least myself?
- When did I feel most whole? Least whole?
Reconcile and resolve. Allow the Holy Spirit to minister to you. Talk to Jesus about the day.
Maybe you will feel led to forgive, to seek forgiveness, ask for direction, share a concern, express gratitude, etc.
Those who practice this kind of introspection and internal accountability will find a number of changes in their spiritual walk with God.
Some things you might experience or expect:
- It brings an increased awareness of God’s omnipresence in our lives and how we respond to His presence.
- It leads to an uncovering and acknowledgement of areas and issues that needs attention.
- It brings to remembrance, God’s goodness, in our lives and those we deal with. Present and past.
- It creates an increase in self-knowledge.
- It allows for an inward turning, of ‘self to God’.
- It might even create a desire to start and maintain a journal. A Record of personal-accountability.
People who practice personal accountability:
- Are more likely to work for achievement, to tolerate delays in rewards, and to plan for long-term goals.
- Are better able to resist manipulation.
- Are more likely to learn from their experiences and their surroundings.
- Are less prone to serious depression.
- Are better at tolerating ambiguous situations.
- Are more willing to work on self-improvement.
- Derive greater benefits from those people near to them.
Personal accountability is one way to lessen the areas of vulnerability in our lives.
Un-Clutter Your Life
Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
The definition of “clutter” is: “A crowded or confused mass or collection” or “Interfering echoes visible on a radar screen caused by reflection from objects other than the target” – Webster Dictionary.
The image that comes to mind when someone mentions “clutter” closely reflects Webster's first definition. Clutter has repercussions – It impacts on your life. It interferes and disturbs.
Msg: Pro 20:9 For who among us can be trusted to be always diligent and honest? 10 Switching price tags and padding the expense account are two things GOD hates.
Clutter irritates and hurts, both physical and mental. It prevents progress, and detracts from efficiency and effectiveness. Un-cluttering is not about cleaning. It is about getting focus into your life. The benefits of getting rid of it are physical, financial and emotional:
Physical because you have more free space and it's easier to find what you're looking for. | |
Financial because you don't have to spend money on buying items you forgot you had or couldn't find. | |
Emotional because you have less stress. |
Sometimes the place for an item is in the rubbish bin or perhaps in a recycling bin! One man's treasure is another man's trash… It's only clutter if it interferes, and it only interferes if it's not where it's supposed to be.
Mat 6:24 No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Clutter is only clutter if it’s mixed with unrelated things.
If you have stack of unrelated papers and projects mixed together on your desk, it is clutter. If your pantry or kitchen cupboards are so untidy that you can never find what you are looking for, it’s clutter.
Clutter is something you don’t need or want.
Remember the 80/20 rule. Eighty percent of value comes from 20 percent of any group. You wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time? 80% of the papers you file, you will never look at again.
Clutter is all the unfinished “stuff” or business and open-ended issues.
We get bored, distracted and downright lazy.
Clutter is everything you haven’t yet made a decision about.
Clutter results because you've postponed making decisions.
Where or what is your clutter? It may be the notes you make to remind you of things to do. It may be worries you have about unresolved issues or the notes on your fridge or the unfinished business of each day. Does your desk look like a bomb hit it?
These strategies are for physical or mental clutter.
Decide what is important
You can’t decide what to get rid of if you don't know what is important to you in the first place. For instance, deciding to only keep clothes that you wear is an indication of what’s important.
Group related items together
Only when you see things together can you begin to prioritize.
Get rid of what you don't need or want.
Divide items into three categories:
- Keep
- Not sure
- Throw out.
Get rid of all the items in “Throw out”. Sift through the “Not sure” items and divide them up into the three piles again if you are not sure what to keep and what to throw out. Eventually you will get to “Keep” only items.
An uncluttered life lived with a great personal sense of accountability will bring it’s just rewards
Accountability and a life uncluttered by the daily cares, starts in and through a relationship with God:
Jam 4:7 (msg) So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper.
Jam 4:7 Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
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