Live Your Life
Starting this blog two months ago was both freeing and frightening. Freeing because it was the creation of an outlet to express the things swirling around in my heart and head, but frightening because of the onset of the pressure to constantly publish through this feed. I was thrilled to write, but worried that I wouldn't have enough things to write about. It's because I knew I didn't want to simply write commentary on recent events as the main thing. And I knew that I didn't want to mainly publish artfully laid out quotes to fill your newsfeeds and inboxes.
Trying Not To Barf Other People's Words All Over You
I know the above statement seems kind of dramatic but, through my contemplation, I made a simple promise to myself: My writing will not spring from thoughtful regurgitations of other people’s intellectual maxims, but from stories of God's unique and wonderful work in me. I wanted the writing and content to be personal (and even raw). I wanted readers to hear a voice that wasn’t talking down from higher ground, but right beside them in the trenches. My pastoral background sometimes gets the best of me and I can get a little preachy, but I try to reel it in when I notice it. For preachers, life’s a sermon illustration. It’s almost as if we experience it just so we can preach it (apologies to my wife and kids for always finding unsolicited ways into my sermons).
Kids Say The Darndest Things
While I’m on the preaching theme, let me share something that happened a few days ago. It was Saturday morning and I was watching a sermon by Carl Lentz from Hillsong New York on TV and Jacob was playing on the couch next to me. He was half involved in what he was doing and half watching the TV with me. Then about half way through the program, he blurts out, “Daddy, how come you can’t do that?!” A little startled, I asked, “Do what?” He said, “That!”
Trying to gather the pieces of my crumbling ego, and still wanting more clarity, I asked, “What do you mean by ‘that’?” Then the bomb dropped on my already envious heart. He said, “Speak like that!”
To be honest, my stomach sank and my throat hollowed out. My son had just served me a generous portion of humble-pie. I was deflated and speechless in that moment and I really couldn’t say anything back, so I didn’t. I just sat there, and he went on about his business without another thought.
But I had plenty of more thoughts. My first thought was, “Hey kid, you really have no idea how your dad can preach!” My second thought was, “What do you know?” But, ultimately, these stubbornly gave way to, “Hmmmm. He’s right!”
That interchange forced me to contemplate my satisfaction with my life and influence. There was an important question in there for me (and, likely, for all of us): Will I happily live my life or will I always live envious of the never ending line of people that seem to have it better?
Two Important Reminders
1. Don’t waste your life with envy. If we’re always looking at others and wanting what they have, we’ll never be happy. When we inwardly covet the perceived neatly-buttoned lives of others, we unnecessarily deplete each day of its inherent joy.
Why don’t I have that? Why can’t I do that? Why am I not like that? Why can’t we live like that? Don’t mistake these for motivational questions to get you going. These thoughts cripple our creativity and potential and there is no end. If we’re always comparing, we’re never living; and life (with its joy) will pass us by.
2. Live on purpose with joy. Grab your own life, with all of your talents and aspirations, and start living on purpose with joy. Forget what you don’t have or can’t do, and harness on what do have and can do.
You have personalized God-given gifts that perfectly match your unique God-sized mission. So let’s save ourselves some heartache and stop trying to ram the square block into the triangular hole.