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Everyone's life is driven by something.
The dictionary defines the word drive as "to guide, to control, or to direct." Whether you are driving a car, a nail, or a golf ball, you are guiding, controlling, and directing it at that moment.
So my question for you today is...
The dictionary defines the word drive as "to guide, to control, or to direct." Whether you are driving a car, a nail, or a golf ball, you are guiding, controlling, and directing it at that moment.
So my question for you today is...
What is the driving force in your life?
Right now you may be driven by a problem, a pressure, or a deadline. You may be driven by a painful memory, a haunting fear, or an unconscious belief. There are hundreds of circumstances, values, and emotions that can drive your life. The Book of Ecclesiastes can help you greatly in your search of the truth to the answers you may be looking for, finding real unchanging values, (to profit) in this life.
Let's look at some of the things that may be driving your life today.
Many people are driven by guilt. They spend their entire lives running from regrets and hiding their shame. Guilt-driven people are manipulated by memories. They allow their past to control their future. They often unconsciously punish themselves by sabotaging their own success. When Cain sinned, his guilt disconnected him from God's presence, and God said, "You will be restless and wander the earth." (Genesis 4:12) That describes most people today - wandering through life without a purpose.
We are all products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it. He turned a murderer named Moses into a leader, and a coward named Gideon into a courageous hero. He can do amazing things with the rest of your life also. God specializes in giving people a fresh start. The Bible says, "What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven! ... What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record." (Psalm 32:1)
Many people are driven by resentment and anger. They hold on to hurts and never get over them. Instead of releasing their pain through forgiveness, they rehearse it over and over in their minds. Some resentment-driven people "clam up" and internalize their anger, while others "blow up" and explode it onto others. Both responses are unhealthy and unhelpful.
Resentment always hurts you more than it does the person you resent. While your offender has probably forgotten the offense and gone on with life, you continue to stew in your pain, perpetuating the past.
Those who have hurt you in the past cannot continue to hurt you now unless you hold on to the pain through resentment. Your past is past. Nothing will change it. You are hurting yourself with your bitterness. For your own sake, I challenge you to learn from it, and then let it go. The Bible says, "To worry yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish, and senseless thing to do." (Job 5:2)
Many people are driven by fear. Their fears may be a result of a traumatic experience, unrealistic expectations, growing up in a high-control home, or even genetic predisposition. Regardless of the cause, fear-driven people often miss great opportunities because they are afraid to venture out. Nothing ventured is nothing gained. Instead they play it safe, avoiding risks and trying to maintain the status quo.
Fear, False Evidence Appearing Real, is a self-imposed prison that will keep you from becoming what God intends for you to be. You must move against it with the weapons of faith and love. The Bible says, "Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life - fear of death, fear of judgment, - is one not yet fully formed in love. (1John 4:18)
Many people are driven by materialism. Their desire to acquire becomes the whole goal of their lives. This drive to always want more is based on the misconceptions that having more will make one happier, more important, and more secure, but all three ideas are untrue. Possessions only provide temporary happiness. Because things do not change, we eventually become bored with them and then want newer, bigger, and better versions.
It is also a myth that if you get more, you will become more important. Self-worth and net worth are not the same. Your value is not determined by your valuables, and God says the most valuable things in life are not things. They are just tools for fulfilling your calling and destiny.
The most common myth about money is that having more will make you more secure. It won't. Wealth can be lost instantly through a variety of uncontrollable factors. Real security can only be found in that which can never be taken from you - your relationship with God.
Many people are driven by the need for approval. They allow the expectations of parents, spouses, children, teachers, or friends to control their lives. Many adults are still trying to earn the approval of unpleasable parents. Others are driven by peer pressure, always worried by what others might think. Unfortunately, those who follow the crowd usually get lost in it.
I do not know all the keys to success, but one key to failure is in trying to please everyone. Being controlled by the opinions of others is a guaranteed way to miss God's purposes for your life. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters." (Mathew 6:24)
There are many other forces that can drive your life, but all lead to the same dead end: unused potential, unnecessary stress, and an unfulfilled life. The answer clearly lies in God's Word, and the Finished Work of the Cross. We must really take a look back, back about 2000 years ago, at what really happened to us. This will give us the insight to our future. A life guided, controlled, and directed by God's purposes. Without doing this, life is motion without meaning, activity without direction, and events without reason.
..
Let's look at some of the things that may be driving your life today.
Many people are driven by guilt. They spend their entire lives running from regrets and hiding their shame. Guilt-driven people are manipulated by memories. They allow their past to control their future. They often unconsciously punish themselves by sabotaging their own success. When Cain sinned, his guilt disconnected him from God's presence, and God said, "You will be restless and wander the earth." (Genesis 4:12) That describes most people today - wandering through life without a purpose.
We are all products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it. He turned a murderer named Moses into a leader, and a coward named Gideon into a courageous hero. He can do amazing things with the rest of your life also. God specializes in giving people a fresh start. The Bible says, "What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven! ... What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record." (Psalm 32:1)
Many people are driven by resentment and anger. They hold on to hurts and never get over them. Instead of releasing their pain through forgiveness, they rehearse it over and over in their minds. Some resentment-driven people "clam up" and internalize their anger, while others "blow up" and explode it onto others. Both responses are unhealthy and unhelpful.
Resentment always hurts you more than it does the person you resent. While your offender has probably forgotten the offense and gone on with life, you continue to stew in your pain, perpetuating the past.
Those who have hurt you in the past cannot continue to hurt you now unless you hold on to the pain through resentment. Your past is past. Nothing will change it. You are hurting yourself with your bitterness. For your own sake, I challenge you to learn from it, and then let it go. The Bible says, "To worry yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish, and senseless thing to do." (Job 5:2)
Many people are driven by fear. Their fears may be a result of a traumatic experience, unrealistic expectations, growing up in a high-control home, or even genetic predisposition. Regardless of the cause, fear-driven people often miss great opportunities because they are afraid to venture out. Nothing ventured is nothing gained. Instead they play it safe, avoiding risks and trying to maintain the status quo.
Fear, False Evidence Appearing Real, is a self-imposed prison that will keep you from becoming what God intends for you to be. You must move against it with the weapons of faith and love. The Bible says, "Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life - fear of death, fear of judgment, - is one not yet fully formed in love. (1John 4:18)
Many people are driven by materialism. Their desire to acquire becomes the whole goal of their lives. This drive to always want more is based on the misconceptions that having more will make one happier, more important, and more secure, but all three ideas are untrue. Possessions only provide temporary happiness. Because things do not change, we eventually become bored with them and then want newer, bigger, and better versions.
It is also a myth that if you get more, you will become more important. Self-worth and net worth are not the same. Your value is not determined by your valuables, and God says the most valuable things in life are not things. They are just tools for fulfilling your calling and destiny.
The most common myth about money is that having more will make you more secure. It won't. Wealth can be lost instantly through a variety of uncontrollable factors. Real security can only be found in that which can never be taken from you - your relationship with God.
Many people are driven by the need for approval. They allow the expectations of parents, spouses, children, teachers, or friends to control their lives. Many adults are still trying to earn the approval of unpleasable parents. Others are driven by peer pressure, always worried by what others might think. Unfortunately, those who follow the crowd usually get lost in it.
I do not know all the keys to success, but one key to failure is in trying to please everyone. Being controlled by the opinions of others is a guaranteed way to miss God's purposes for your life. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters." (Mathew 6:24)
There are many other forces that can drive your life, but all lead to the same dead end: unused potential, unnecessary stress, and an unfulfilled life. The answer clearly lies in God's Word, and the Finished Work of the Cross. We must really take a look back, back about 2000 years ago, at what really happened to us. This will give us the insight to our future. A life guided, controlled, and directed by God's purposes. Without doing this, life is motion without meaning, activity without direction, and events without reason.
..
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