What Really Matters and Why?
NATURAL EYES. Have you ever taken a step back, looked around you, and asked yourself:
Does anything matter?
Does anybody care?
Maybe it’s the word “thing” that’s the problem. Anything is such an impersonal word. Does life, then, amount to anything more than what unfolds before us?
SPIRITUAL EYES. Am I confident and convinced that: “God will complete the work He started in me.” Phil 1:6? Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. “Work” is a thing I can identify with. It’s tangible.
That is, unless my idea of “work” does not align with His idea.
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TAKING INVENTORY (of what matters):
- Are there good works I started because they ‘seemed’ good? (Maybe I should reevaluate these.)
- Am I truly willing to be satisfied with the work He started in me? (Do I even know what this is?)
If it’s good, does it really matter who started it?
“I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ…” Phil 1:9-11 NLT
“Pure and blameless” sounds humanly impossible (sounds like a work of God).
Righteous character is not about what my hands do or build (though that may offer some proof).
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WHAT OTHERS SEE
Are people witnessing the fruit of the work God started in me, the stuff that matters?
Or are they seeing the fruit of a work I started:
- A personal attempt to get noticed?
- Out of self-righteousness?
- A selfish pursuit?
- Or even out of a “good heart” that’s not submitted to God?
When love abounds those around you are affected.
MAGNIFICENT ARTWORK will make us applaud and smile, but those things cannot influences our hearts. There are things people truly admire:
- Humility over pride
- Integrity over duplicity
- Patience over irritability
- Wholesomeness (in speech/action) over vulgarity
- Identifying the best, and distinguishing moral differences
A PURSUIT OF God changes our character and has a profound effect on people: “…that you may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ [actually living lives that lead others away from sin]” Phil 1:10
Nobody is perfect, but we can all be perfected.
HIS TRANSFORMING LOVE abounding in your heart makes you a human magnet.
Love matters.
Love cares.
Believe with confidence and hope that
God will complete the work He started in you.
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