Over the last couple of months, my life has taken a completely different turn and a very welcome one at that.
For years, I have been living based on ideas that have not been COMPLETELY serving me in the right way. As I have always been focused on success and success ideas, I have had some level of success and a lot of failure as well but I was always missing something. An empty feeling that had plagued me for about 25 years or so.
Late this summer, I found what I was missing and I have been at peace with myself ever since. It is a great feeling.
I will do my best to communicate these ideas below in four parts that I believe will help anyone who is struggling with the idea of success and successful living.
1. We have to have a measuring stick that does NOT change that is not based on the ebbs and flow of human emotion – The part that I was missing in my life was the measuring stick. I made a personal decision many years ago to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior but I had walked away from this idea many years ago and the results in my life were evidence that I was NOT living my life based on the Biblical principles.
No matter what area in your life, you may be struggling with the answers are in the Bible.
I have gotten back to living my life based on the principles in the Bible. As I struggle to live up to these standards, I have kept them foremost in my mind and make changes in my thinking and actions based on the Bible being the True North Compass.
It is my belief that the first step to living a successful life to understand that we as human beings are far from perfect and that there was only one perfect human being that ever walked this earth and that was Jesus Christ. And if we are truly going to enjoy any level of success, we need to realize that they only way for us to get there is by accepting Him as the only TRUE savior.
Not the government, not your rich uncle, not the get rich quick schemes, but the only PERFECT entity that ever walked this earth, who died a painful death to save YOU!
We need to get our minds straight!
2. We need to be a good steward of our physical body – We have been put on this earth for a purpose. As responsible human beings , it is our responsibility to seek out this purpose and listen intently for that purpose BUT we need to make sure that when the time comes for that purpose to happen, we need to have our minds straight and our bodies ready to take action on that purpose.
This requires that we take good care of both our minds and our bodies which work hand in hand with each other.
What a shame it would be if we heard the calling but we were too physically out of shape to make it happen….
“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41
When we are weak physically, we are often tested with things that we know we shouldn’t do but we do them anyway.
But when you start to take your health seriously and you start to eat the proper foods that serve you nutritionally. And you start to move your body in a manner that builds your muscles and burns that fat away, you will be ready when your purpose presents itself.
3. We need to be good stewards of our finances – This is an area that I have struggled for most of my life. Sad but true. When we allow ourselves to be put in a positions of weakness because we lack the financial resources to have to rely on others, we are not only doing ourselves a disservice but also to those around us.
Being weak financially narrows our options.
Being weak financially limits our ability to help others.
Being weak financially places us in jobs that we hate but that we need just for survival.
Some may say, “If I had more money, I would have a better plan.” I heard one of my mentors, Jim Rohn say, “If you had a better plan, you would have more money.”
He went onto say, “You need to be faithful, even when the amounts are small.”
Faithful to what? Well faithful to a plan that calls for savings, charitable giving or tithing even when you are making very little.
With savings and regular giving, you WILL be presented with options that will allow you to be responsible for larger amounts.
If this is a problem for you make sure that you visit http://www.daveramsey.com and start working the plan. His plan will help you get out of debt and set you on the course to living your life based on sound Biblical financial principles.
4. Be truthful in EVERYTHING – As human beings, we are inherently weak. We come from a long line of weakness that started with Adam and Eve. And our nature hasn’t changed much from the beginning. But when we start to accept that we are not perfect and we honestly start to look at our lives with out the candy coating, we will be better prepared to take the necessary steps to start living our lives based on the measuring stick from step one.
If we continue to walk around blindly ignoring our weaknesses and thinking that everything is wonderful, we will end up very sad in the end.
We need to be truthful about where we are and then we need to take the responsibility to get our selves on the right path. The path that was set forth for us by God and sealed with the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ who died for you, me and everyone that lived on the face of this earth.
It is a GIFT for you and all you have to do is accept it!
As Always, Here’s to Your LifetoSuccess,
John Clark
Some great suggestions! Being truthful and honest is most important.