Powerful & Personal
[I want to begin with a shout out to Greg Arnold at The Gregory Group for his great work on updating and refreshing my web site. Check it out. Much needed.]
Well, it’s that time of year again when Planet Fitness and Weight Watchers want us to trade our money for shed pounds; Home Depot and Lowes want to sell us bins, tubs, and organizational items; and we have to get new calendars too.
God knows we need opportunities for fresh starts and new beginnings. This allows us to consider change, and maybe even make some. Last week, Seth Godin asked why would the-powers-at-be have us take off a day to start a new year unless we are to stop, consider change, and how we might improve our lives?
Well, here’s a consideration for you. A life verse. Mine is 2 Corinthians 5:17. I started using this verse as a filter over 35 years ago. As I have gotten older, this verse becomes more powerful, more crucial to who I am. In 2009, I named my ministry 517 Resources, Inc. because I wanted to produce materials for people that would “make the old things pass away and all things become new.” Every decision I make in regards to my ministry and career is filtered through this verse. It can’t be about money, pride, ego, buddies, or what “sounds like a good thing,” but about “the new creation.”
What filter do you pour your decisions through? What creates your “bottom line?” Where does your personal standard come from?
What if in 2016, preferably like this week, you found a verse or a short passage that you could adopt as your life verse? What if when decisions come, temptations rise up, offers are presented, or “a good deal” comes along, you quoted your verse to yourself and then answered honestly if it fit or not?
Until you memorize your verse, write it on a 3 X 5 card and put it on your car dash, write it in Sharpie on your bathroom mirror, or record it on a voice memo so you can play it as often as you need to hear it.
If you want to see real change this year, adopting a life verse is a great and simple tool to “teach, rebuke, correct, and train in righteousness.”
My friend, Dave Edwards, wrote a book on this concept aptly titled Life Verse. My testimony is on pp. 181-182. A great read on personalizing the power of Scripture.
All the Holy Writings are God-given and are made alive by Him. Man is helped when he is taught God’s Word. It shows what is wrong. It changes the way of a man’s life. It shows him how to be right with God. —2 Timothy 3:16 NLV