Thought:
For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
How do you determine how you will spend your day? What is the deciding factors or driving forces? Is it how you feel? Or have you set an agenda or daily goals? Every day you are faced with a myriad of decisions. How do you make your priorities and proceed? How successful is your method or does your day get regularly sidetracked? Let's look closer at this issue and identify what forces or factors decide or affect the way your life is lived.
Dallas Willard, an author and theologian, in his book Renovation of the Heart identifies four driving forces that determine how you prioritize your life. These forces are (1) feelings, (2) rational thought or the "mind,"(3) your will or "heart," and (4) God's will. Let's briefly define each. Feelings are your emotional and physical states, such as sadness, hunger, anger, or pain (both physical and emotional). The mind is your thought life---it is how you analyze the world and make sense of it. Your will or heart is your determination and how you set short- and long-term goals for yourself. Finally, God's will can be understood as God's law or moral code for your life.
Over the next few weeks, I will take a closer look at each driving force, define them further, address their strengths and weaknesses , and discuss the balance or relationship they should have with each other. But, between now and the next article, notice which of these needs or forces determine the pace of your day. Do you have an agenda or a set of goals for each day? If so, how successful do you tend to be with your priorities? Or, do you wing it and spontaneously approach every day? How do changes occur to your schedule? And, how do you feel when those changes happens? I will look forward to entering this introspective journey with you as we close out the summer and start our busy fall schedules.
For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
1 John 2:16-17
How do you determine how you will spend your day? What is the deciding factors or driving forces? Is it how you feel? Or have you set an agenda or daily goals? Every day you are faced with a myriad of decisions. How do you make your priorities and proceed? How successful is your method or does your day get regularly sidetracked? Let's look closer at this issue and identify what forces or factors decide or affect the way your life is lived.
Dallas Willard, an author and theologian, in his book Renovation of the Heart identifies four driving forces that determine how you prioritize your life. These forces are (1) feelings, (2) rational thought or the "mind,"(3) your will or "heart," and (4) God's will. Let's briefly define each. Feelings are your emotional and physical states, such as sadness, hunger, anger, or pain (both physical and emotional). The mind is your thought life---it is how you analyze the world and make sense of it. Your will or heart is your determination and how you set short- and long-term goals for yourself. Finally, God's will can be understood as God's law or moral code for your life.
Over the next few weeks, I will take a closer look at each driving force, define them further, address their strengths and weaknesses , and discuss the balance or relationship they should have with each other. But, between now and the next article, notice which of these needs or forces determine the pace of your day. Do you have an agenda or a set of goals for each day? If so, how successful do you tend to be with your priorities? Or, do you wing it and spontaneously approach every day? How do changes occur to your schedule? And, how do you feel when those changes happens? I will look forward to entering this introspective journey with you as we close out the summer and start our busy fall schedules.
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