Tools for Success
Hi Loves, happy Monday! I hope your day was productive and you got off to an amazing start! Mine was kind of slow and sleepy. I needed recovery time from an impromptu trip to Detroit to help my little brother get his new place situated. It was a Friday to Sunday turn around and I was exhausted.
I was, however, not too tired to make sure to get my walk in today and make sure I get you this post. I haven’t given up over here and am still working on those consistency muscles like we discussed last week. Are you?
Anyway, it seems like I have been busier than I anticipated this first half of July and I am just coming down to a place where I will be home and able to focus on getting a routine in place. The thing is, whenever I am getting ready to implement a new routine in my life, I always feel like I need to have everything in place and perfect before I start. Let’s just say, nine time out of ten nothing is every in place or perfect and therefore, I don’t start.
The Holy Spirit revealed this pattern of self-sabotage to me when I was getting ready to relaunch the blog and I couldn’t afford a professional web designer or photographer. One day, as I was writing out my plan for success (any other planners out there?) I thought, “You already have it.” I retorted, “Uhhh no Lord, I don’t. I need blah, blah, blah, blah” I imagine myself sounding like the teacher from Charlie Brown when I try to argue with God. And He gently said again, “You already have it.”
I didn’t understand what He meant and knew that according to what I knew about my circumstances that it seemed like I didn’t have what I needed to be successful. Then He led me to 2 Peter 1:3-8.
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence... for this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.”
All things for life and godliness. God has given us the tools for success in every aspect of our lives that we have dedicated to Him. It is just up to us to access this power through the Holy Spirit and “make every effort” to accomplish the tasks He has given us.
My mind was blown! So many times I have read scripture and thought, “Ok so what does that mean in real world, 21st century language?” I always hated when I was preached at, but not given practical strategies to implement what the Bible said. I relied on what the preacher told me rather than digging in and asking God to meet me and explain things to me Himself. Loves, there is nothing like meeting God in prayer and study and learning to hear Him speak to you. I highly recommend it.
Back to 2 Peter. There it is in plain sight, 21st century language. We have been given all things pertaining to life.
Faith- belief in God the Father, the sacrifice of the Son Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit living in you. Moving forward with actions that confirm your belief that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.
Virtue- Be honest with yourself. Are there things in your life that are contrary to what you claim to believe? Eliminate the contrary and add those things that “confirm your calling (2 Peter 1:10).”
Knowledge- Read and study to find out all the things you need to know on whatever it is you are trying to accomplish. Going Keto? Read about it. Starting a blog? Scour the internet for tips. Thinking about entrepreneurship? Go to every webinar and class you can find.
Self-Control- Now that you know what you need to add and take away, do it. It might be painful and go against all that you are used to, but we are working on that new creation we have become in Christ Jesus. This fruit of the Spirit is one that has to be formed in order to make that change you desire.
Steadfastness- Also known as perseverance. You will get tired, Love. It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when and when you do: KEEP GOING. When you can’t see how it is going to work and the results you were expecting haven’t shown up yet. Keep going.
I have to pause here and say that this is where most of us get held up. We give up when things get hard or we get tired or the strategies we thought would work do not. To persevere means that you might have to make your way back to step one to remind yourself of your faith, reassess and see what needs to be eliminated or added, read some new materials and gain some new strategies, and then implement that new information to get the results desired. JUST. KEEP. GOING.
Godliness- After you have gone through the first four tools multiple times, you will reach that mountain top and you will succeed at whatever it is you are trying to accomplish. It would have been a long, hard journey and once you get to the top people will start to finally recognize all the years of hard work you have put in to get to where you are. STAY HUMBLE. Always giving glory to God whenever people ask, “How did you do it?” The last thing we want is to be like King Hezekiah who failed to give God glory for all he had and got it all taken away (Isaiah 39).
Brotherly Love- As people ask you how you got to where you are. Tell them. Lovingly instruct them and share how they can also be successful with whatever they desire using these tools. They were given to us in love for us to share them in love.
REPEAT.- Peter says that if we use these tools we will not be ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of Jesus. We can use these in every area of life and should do so unapologetically as we aim to bear fruit for the Kingdom of God.
I’m testing out this formula for the rest of 2020 and for every goal I have I am going through each step because I believe the promise that they will keep me from being unfruitful or ineffective. This weight loss thing is around number 3 on the list. Are there goals that you can apply this to for the last six months of the year? Let me know in the comments!
I love you.
