Effective and Productive

Okay, I'm back:-) I'm at my in-laws but we're all pretty lazy so far and just hanging around and we have our laptop with us....and so it goes:-) Here's something I journalled this morning in some devotion time that I made sure to prioritize....because I desparately am needing it this week!

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness, and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:5-8

I stumbled across this passage during our 9 hour drive to my in-laws yesterday. It grabbed my attention. If I work through these qualities step by step here is what I see…

1. We start with faith in Jesus Christ.

2. Goodness is our faith moving into action, living a life pleasing to the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. Next we move to a deeper understanding of God and His Word…knowledge. (which I'm working on applying more effectively lately with the "lining the walls of my mind" posts)

4. From this knowledge we move to self-control. It appears to be a key step towards self-control.

5. From self-control we move into needing to persevere. This suggests to me that we will all slip and stumble but the key is to keep on keeping on!

6. From perseverance we will begin to show the fruit of godliness. My NIV notes state:

Godliness: a genuine reverance toward God that governs one's attitude toward every aspect of life.

What is so interesting is what comes next! Brotherly kindness and then love! Interesting! The goal appears to be loving others, setting others interests above our own! I was not expecting that. I thought godliness would be the end goal in and of itself. But if I think about this, we are right back to square one (mature & equipped this time) to put our faith in action more effectively.

Applying this to my struggle with overeating… I see my end goal should not be simply self-control and perseverance (which have been my current goals) but add to that godliness and brotherly kindness and love… Become OTHER centered rather than SELF centered.

What could this look like when applying to eating…
* caring more about conversation and connecting in social settings and less about eating. (THIS is what I'm feeling convicted about applying this week)
* phoning a friend or writing a note to a friend at times when I am feeling tempted to eat or bored etc.
* begin to make more sacrifices to give to the poor and needy, those who are REALLY hungry.

Overall it means I want to love my brother as Christ first loved me (1 John 4:19). This is a good challenge! Loving with actions and truth (1 John 3:18).

And as I begin to possess these qualities of faith, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love in INCREASING measure, I will be EFFECTIVE and PRODUCTIVE in my knowledge of Christ.

The most important lesson I think God is wanting to teach me this week, as I struggle this Christmas with eating in social situations, is that I need to focus on loving others~being OTHER centered. I need to bring this to the Lord in prayer constantly and capture each thought making it obedient to Christ as I struggle to be loving and kind and OTHER centered. And if I take this lesson to heart I am sure that I will not struggle with greed for food, because I will be focussed on the Lord and others, not letting the spotlight rest on my wants and greedy/gluttonous desires. This is my prayer.