Today's blog was contributed by Rev. April Bristow, Associate Pastor of Caring Ministries
Do you ever look at a growing family member and ask “are you graduating from high school already?” or at the end of the month do you wonder…“where did my money go?” or you look down at the scale and ask yourself... “did I really eat that much over the holidays?” We learn, mostly the hard way, that if we do not keep a watchful eye on our time, resources or our energy they will slowly slip away from us. Plans and dreams will become remain unrealized unless we make a point to map out a plan and then follow through. If we do not identify goals, track progress and evaluate outcomes, we may find our lives spiraling out of control. To stay in tune and in pace with our lives, we need to be intentional about how we spend our most precious resources including our time, our money, our energy and our faith.
Being a Christian doesn’t just “happen”. If we are not intentional in investing in our faith through prayer, study, fellowship or service, time will go by and we may find ourselves in a spiritual rut and wondering “how did I get here?”
2 Peter 1:5-8 offers us these words to remind us that it is good to have faith, but your faith needs to be supported with intentional actions. It is a wonderful reminder that “all things work together for good”. ..
5 For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, 7and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. 8 For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The whole idea of intentionality is a theme that I am personally focusing on this year. I look forward to Sunday’s sermon and expect Pastor Clayton to challenge us to greater fruitfulness as we consider intentionally developing our faith.
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