When Life and Message Don’t Match

Do you have any “life-changing” days in your personal memory bank? Can you remember decisions that altered the course of your life? Obviously, as believers, the day we said “Yes” to Jesus is one of those days. In my spiritual journey, I have others that have marked my life and altered my direction.

May 11, 1975, may be just a date on the calendar for you but for me it represents one of the most meaningful course changes in my spiritual life. In January of the same year I found myself at a ministry crossroads. Six months earlier, I had been accepted as an enthusiastic staff member with Word of Life Local Church Ministries to reach students with the Gospel. However, now I was troubled in my spirit.

Life had become complex, my schedule demanding, my spiritual life was suffering.

I was still preaching, teaching and discipling but I was spiritually dry…I was running on empty.

I determined that integrity of life and message was not an option, and so I began a five month journey that culminated on May 11.  I prayed, studied and journaled. I sought godly counsel.  All of these resulted in a decision I still celebrate to this day.

No, I did not make one decision and suddenly become “super Christian,” but the vow I made to God that day redirected my life. I committed to never again be satisfied with the status quo. I embarked on a spiritual quest to know God intimately while building safeguards into my daily life to protect my relationship with Jesus.

The following is a list of concepts I have come to embrace, which have aided me on my spiritual journey.

I have learned to:

• Reject the status quo of Christianity – to measure my life by biblical principles not programs.
• Make my personal relationship with the Lord a priority – to give God my best time, not my leftover or spare time.
• Develop a “Spiritual Growth Plan” for my life each year. I am not talking about a checklist but a specific plan for deepening my relationship with Jesus.
• Give myself regular spiritual check-ups, evaluating my life and progress frequently not yearly.
• Connect with accountability partners who are not afraid to ask me penetrating questions. I need people in my life who know me well enough to know when I am trying to “snow” them.
• Commit to a life-long spiritual journey, realizing that I will never reach a place in this life where I have arrived.

May 11, 1975, is a special day for me, and I could not let this month end without celebrating it. I am not celebrating my spirituality or success; I am celebrating the journey and the decision to walk this path.

What are some of your significant “life-changing” days?