Yesterday was the first day of digging into a new devotional by Pastor Rick Warren titled “Uncommon Courage”. The first day talked about our convictions and gave a couple of definitions.
From the devotional, “Dictionaries usually define conviction as a fixed or strong belief. Conviction is really much more than that. Your convictions include your values, commitments, and motivations. I like the definition of conviction I once heard from the great Bible teacher Howard Hendricks: “A belief is something you will argue about. A conviction is something you will die for!” ”
As I meditated on these definitions I asked myself, “What are the things I believe in so strongly I would die for them?” That list for me, as I am sure is the same for many of you, is a short one. I would die for my God and for my family. When I was in uniform I took an oath to die for my country, which I would have done if called upon. There is nothing else I would honestly willingly give my life for. These are the things which are most important to me. These are what I hold fast to as I go through life. I owe God my life for without his love and grace I am nothing. My wife and kids are the most important thing to me outside of God. They help give my life purpose.
Now that I’ve established these are the most important things in my life, how should I treat each of them? My treatment of each of them should reflect their importance to me, correct? So that means for instance, I would always be at Church on Sundays full of excitement and ready to worship God. I would be ready and willing to give my time and talents to do God’s work. I would always have time for my wife and kids. I would always be the best husband and the best father. I mean if I just told you I would die for each of them then of course I would do all these things, wouldn’t I?
The reality is I am not close to doing all these things. There are times I don’t feel like going to Church or I go without much enthusiasm. There are times I don’t go out of my way to utilize my time and talents for God’s work. There are times when I put doing other things (like watching a football game) ahead of spending time with my wife and kids. There are times when I’m not the best husband I could be. There are times when I haven’t been the best father I could be. But wait, I just told you how important they are to me. I just told you I would die for them. So why aren’t I always treating them like that?
Because we are human and we fail! This is where the lesson comes in because each of us needs to understand we are not perfect. We have to stop fooling ourselves into thinking we can be. We have to allow ourselves to make mistakes and realize it doesn’t mean we should walk around in shame. So does that give us an out to where we don’t have to work hard to show how important these things are to us? Of course not!
The way I try to show the importance of God and my family in my life is to think of them in every decision and situation I am in. I always try to ask myself several questions. Is this what God wants me to do? Would this bring honor to God if I did it? How is this decision going to affect Jen? How is this decision going to affect the kids? Then I try to make the best decision based on these types of questions. Do I always get it right? Of course not, but each time I learn a little bit more about how I can better express how important they are to me.
So as you read this think about those things you would die for. The things that are most important in your life. Do your actions toward these things reflect the level of importance they have in your life. If it’s something you would die for then you’ve put it pretty high up there! So if you would give your life for it, why not give your time, your talents, your attention, your heart to it!
Truth in Love! ~ Chuck