Favors From God

Oh God, I beg two favors from You before I die. First, help me never to lie - or be found to be a liar. Second, give me neither poverty or riches. Rather give me just enough in life to satisfy my needs.

Accountability

Obedience to God is of paramount importance. Simply put, there is nothing in life that is more important than obeying God. Rather than focusing on my entitlement or my rights, God is calling me to be far more accountable than I am familiar with. His vision for my accountability is far greater than I have even imagined.

And yet, Lord, You have blessed me richly. Your unmerited favor in my life and my love for You compel me to embrace your vision of my obedience and your standard for my accountability.

Basis for Greatness

When I fully understand who Christ is, my pride and self-centered ways will melt away. When I am content to do what God wants, and I am content to see Jesus honored for it, God will do great things through me. These things make up true humility, which is the basis for greatness in preaching, teaching or any other work I want to do for the Lord.

Effective Living

Effective living begins with a proper attitude toward God. Before religious words can come to your mouth, they must come from your heart. Let respect, humility, and servant hood characterize towards God and others. Only then can you begin to find the effective life in Christ that Jesus died to give you.

Keeping Up Appearances

Efforts that people expend on keeping up appearances (their bodies, homes, cars, etc.) are usually not the best priorities. That time and effort could be better spend finding the answers to sin in our life's and implementing course corrections to lead us into righteous and the character f Jesus Christ.

Ambition

While ambition can be a virtue in some people, it is easily perverted and is lost to good and righteous purposes. Inappropriate ambition is really just greed disguised as a virtue. As such, it is often accompanied by jealousy and even hatred.

Intentional Sin

Intentional sin, even on the part of adults, typically comes from an improper regard for God. Intentional sin results from an ignorance of who God really is. Put differently, it someone really knew who God is and who they are in Christ, it would be impossible for to intentionally commit blatant sin.