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Remember to forget.
If we want to make the best of the present -- in light of God's grace, let's resolve
neither to rest on the laurels of past achievements, nor dwell too long on previous
shortcomings. In God Came Near, Max Lucado writes, "In the cellar of your heart
lurk ghosts of yesterday's sins. Sins you've confessed; errors of which you've
repented; damage you've done your best to repair...but do yourself a favor. Purge
your cellar. Exorcise your basement. Take the Roman nails of Calvary and board-up
the door. And remember...He forgot." In the final analysis, we need a Savior not a
second chance, for "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through him." (John 3:17)
Using biblical precepts and principles, Warren amplifies God's five purposes for each
of us, as follows:
1) We were planned for God's pleasure, to offer real worship.
2) We were formed for God's family, to enjoy real fellowship.
3) We were created to become like Christ, to learn real discipleship.
4) We were shaped for serving God, to practice real ministry, and
5) We were made for a mission, to live out real evangelism.
In terms of how we meet our goals, my advice wouldn't be complete unless I also
referred to The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, where Steven Covey
identifies seven timeless principles, which characterize effectiveness. These are as
follows:
2) Begin with the end in mind -- This speaks to the goal of "Christlikeness." It
suggests that preceding any physical creation or reality, is the mental image or
visualization of that end. Covey's research supports the idea that this endowment
unleashes the potential to self-actualize regardless of the conditions we are
presented with.
3) Put first things first -- This speaks to the endowment of willpower. For Christians it
can be summarized as "What would Jesus do?" A highly disciplined life that focuses
heavily on important, but not necessarily urgent activities of life, is one characterized
by leverage and influence. Taken together, these first three principles speak to
achieving the type of "personal" success that precedes "public" effectiveness as
follows...
7) Sharpen the saw -- This final capability focuses on the concept of continual
improvement or self-renewal to overcome entropy, which represents closed systems
of thinking. This endowment acknowledges that success in life is more a journey
than a destination, as you're transformed from one level to the next "by the
renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2).
Being personally invested in a biblical, principle-centered approach to life, is the best
way to realize personal effectiveness. It is also important to note that this paradigm
doesn't embrace just the latest thinking in a continuum of transitory fads. Instead it
inculcates the greatest of biblical wisdom and classic sociological truth ever put into
practice.
In their defining work on this subject Right from Wrong, McDowell and Hostetler
affirm that the Bible is filled with precepts for an individual's faith and practice, for
our good and God's glory. They explain that acknowledging biblical precepts allows
us to apply the principles that emerge. And it's in practicing godly principles that
we're able to experience the Person and work of Jesus in our lives -- as we conform
our attitudes and actions to God's character and nature.
Roy J. Tanner