“What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” Matthew 16:26 NLT
Every leader faces the challenge of balancing “Being” with “Doing”. Most of my life I have been focused on doing. Maximizing my impact on others, serving others and other performance goals. How can I live a life of influence?
What if we began with the questions, “What is God most desiring from me? What are the deepest longings of my soul?
I believe God’ priority is that I grow in my love for Him until I love the Lord with all my heart, soul and mind. He desires intimacy with me in a relationship that is growing where God is replacing all the things that I love and worship instead of Him.
This is all about being a human in relationship with a mighty, awesome God, King of the universe. When this relationship is strong and growing I am able to serve others out of the overflow of Christ in me. On the other hand when my soul is empty as a result of living a self centered life, I have only myself to give to others relying on what is in my head rather than my heart.
This challenges me at the center of who I am. Its a question of where does my self worth/significance come from? Do I find my true worth in what I do or who I am in Christ? Perhaps looking at my calendar gives a clue. What is the balance between doing and being in my life? How many hours a day do I give to serving others, doing for God rather than being with God?
It takes time to nurture my life in Christ. It doesn’t just happen without being intentional. What dictates how you use your time? Are you spending enough time alone with God (living for the audience of One) to keep your soul full and growing? Even my time with God can become a list of things I need to do and thus we miss the alone time with God in which He is the audience of my attention, my focus and center of attention.
Retirement challenges my dependence on doing for my significance (Stay tuned).
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