Rick Warren's Blog, page 674

To Know Where You're Going, Evaluate Where You Are

"Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you." Romans 12:3 (NIV)

The first and greatest barrier to change in any area of your life is pride.

The fact is, nobody has it all together. I don't have it all together. You don't have it all together. The Pope doesn't have it all together. The Bible says there's nothing perfect on Earth except God's Word. Everything on this planet is broken because of sin

But we walk around trying to impress people and pretend like we've got it all together. The problem is, if you want to have lasting change in your life, you first have to humbly assess your current state and admit that you don't have it all together. You have to admit you have a problem with your finances, with your health, or whatever area you struggle with in your life.

Romans 12:3 says, "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you" (NIV).

Are you willing to ask the people closest to you, "Where do I need to change?" Do you have the courage to ask other people to be honest about you and with you?

Why is this so important? Because you can only manage what you measure. If you don't know the measure of your faith, you can't grow in your faith. If you don't know the measure of your health, you can't develop and grow in health. If you don't know the measure of where you are financially, you can't set goals financially. If you don't know the measure of where you are spiritually or vocationally or relationally, then you can't grow in those areas. You can only manage what you measure.

It's also important to record your progress in any goal in a journal or a record or whatever you want to do. If you're going to set some health goals, financial goals, or any other kind of goal, record your progress throughout the year so you can measure your growth and your progress.

Evaluate where you are so that you can know where you should go.

Talk It Over

Who are the people in your life with whom you can share openly and honestly?

What areas of your life do you need to evaluate so that you can set realistic goals for change?

What are some ways you can keep track of your growth and progress?

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Take Off the Old, Put On the New

"Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and ... put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4:22-24 (NIV)

If you want to have lasting change in your life, you have to start with your body, and that includes changing the way you think so that what you let into your mind and the things you think about honor God.

Ephesians 4:22-24 says, "Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and ... put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (NIV).

Notice that there's a putting off and a putting on. Your health really comes down to stopping some stuff you need to stop doing and starting some stuff you need to start doing. Stop putting negative, hurtful things in your body, and start putting in things that edify.

Stop putting negative, hurtful things into your mind, and start watching and listening to things that edify and make you more like Christ. In the renewal of your mind, you've got to put off before you can put on.

Let's say you go to a department store to look for a new coat. You find one and take it into one of those little changing rooms. If you're wearing a coat already, you don't go in there and put the new coat on over your old coat. That would be stupid, because you're not going to know if it fits. It makes sense to take off the old one before you put on the new one.

You've got to take off the old before you can put on the new. That's true spiritually and emotionally and mentally.

Talk It Over

What are the "old things" that you need to take out of your life, mind, or body?

What are the "new things" that you need to fill your mind and body with? What are the new habits you will have to develop in order to do that?

In what ways are you trying to be more like God in "true righteousness and holiness"?

Offer Your Body to God

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship." Romans 12:1 (NIV)

For change to happen in any area of your life, whether it's financial, vocational, educational, mental, or relational, you have to begin with the physical.

Why? Because your body affects your behavior. Your muscles affect your moods and your motivation. Your physiology can actually affect your psychology.

Romans 12:1 says, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship" (NIV).

The problem with a living sacrifice is that it can choose to crawl off the altar. We do this all the time. We offer ourselves to God, and then we take ourselves back. This is not a once-for-all offer. You've got to do it four, five, or maybe 10 times a day!

So what is your "true and proper worship"? There are three things you can do with your body that the Bible says are acts of worship:

Cleanse your body. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 7:1, "Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." You cleanse your body by controlling what you allow in your mind through what you watch and listen to and in your body by what you eat and drink.



Care for your body. Ephesians 5:29 says, "No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church" (NLT). Keeping your body in shape is an act of worship to God.



Control your body. "Each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable." 1 Thessalonians 4:4 (NIV). Control your body so that it doesn't control you. There is no reason to say, "I couldn't help myself!"

No matter what kind of change you want to make in your life, it will require energy. To have the energy to meet your goals, change has to start with your body.

Talk It Over

What are the practical ways you can honor God through your body today?

What are the small ways you need to work on controlling your body? What are the big ways?

How does Christ "feed and care for the church"? Why do you think God wants you to do the same with your body?

Focus on the Important, Not the Urgent

"Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days." Ephesians 5:16 (NLT)

I've got good news and bad news for 2014. The 365 days you'll be given next year aren't enough time to do everything. But here's the good news: God doesn't expect you to do everything. God has given you just enough time to do everything he wants you to do.

That's why it's so important for you to set goals for 2014. Goals help you focus your life. Paul models this in 1 Corinthians 9. He says "I do not run without a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something - not just the air." 1 Corinthians 9:26 (NCV).

Paul had a purpose. You need one, too.

Too many of us focus our lives on unimportant causes. Trivial Pursuit isn't just a game; it's a description of our culture. Most of what's going on in our world today won't matter in a week-much less for eternity.

Most people can't tell the difference between urgent and important. Urgent is almost never what's important. ��We set aside our family time, our time with God, and our friendships for the urgent matters that almost never matter for long.

Goals are a great antidote for the kind of life that chases the urgent rather than what's important. Goals will focus your energy.

For example, if you made it your goal to get healthy in 2014, that decision will focus your energy on that task. Any time you try to get healthy, you'll be tempted to skip a workout for more sleep or eat junk food.

But a goal will focus your energy on the important task of getting healthy. The Bible says, "Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days." Ephesians 5:16 (NLT).

Set some goals. Make the most of 2014. Don't waste another year on the urgent rather than the important.

Talk It Over

What are some urgent but unimportant tasks that have filled your time lately?

What changes can you make in your life to maximize the important and minimize the urgent?

What are some goals in the important areas of your life that should be prominent in 2014?

Exercise Faith by Setting Goals

"An intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions." Proverbs 17:24 (GN)

Most of what we do on a daily basis won't matter in five minutes, much less five years. We do a lot that really doesn't matter.

To achieve your dreams in life, you'll need to decide what really matters and what will last in your life and focus on that. The Bible says, "An intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions." Proverbs 17:24 (GN).

Once you've figured out what matters most, set goals big enough to require faith. Jesus�

tells us in Matthew 9 that he will bless us as much as we want. His blessing depends on the size of our faith. Jesus says, "According to your faith let it be done to you" (Matthew 9:29 NIV).

God says choose your cup, and he'll fill it. Whether you have a little teacup, a five-gallon jug, or a 100-gallon barrel of faith, God will fill it up according to your faith. How much you trust God determines how much God blesses you.

You exercise faith by setting goals. You set a goal when you say, "God, I believe you're telling me that you want me to accomplish this by a particular date. It's really going to stretch me to do it, but I believe this is what I need to do."

What is a goal set in F.A.I.T.H.? It's:

Focused: It's specific, something you can measure.

Attainable: It's possible and practical. If you set an unrealistic goal, you won't accomplish it.

Individual: It's personal. You can't set goals for other people. You have ownership over your own goals, not someone else's.

Trackable: Your goal needs a deadline on it. Without a date on it, it's not a goal.

Heartfelt: Never set a goal you're not passionate about, because you will never accomplish it without the desire to do so.

Goals will give life to the dreams you've given up for dead. Take a look at the dreams you've given up on. Add a goal, and see what God can do.

Talk It Over

Why do you think goals help us achieve our dreams?

What makes it tough to set goals related to our dreams?

What are some goals you can set for unrealized dreams in your life? Memorize your goal by writing it down, and consider sharing it with others.

Surrender Your Dream to Jesus

"I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength." Philippians 4:12-13 (NLT)

You'll never achieve your dream until you learn to give it up. It sounds counterintuitive, but it's true.

Surrendering your dream to Jesus is always the safest decision you'll ever make in regards to your dream. God typically takes your dream through six different stages. I've seen him do it hundreds of times in my life and thousands of times throughout the lives of others.

God gives you a dream.

You decide to go after the dream.

Your dream is delayed.

Your dream encounters difficulties.

Your dream hits a dead end.

God delivers your dream.

Throughout each of these stages, you're working on your dream while God is working on you. More than anything else, God wants you to trust him. The Apostle Paul says it like this: "I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength" Philippians 4:12-13 (NLT).

The Bible says emphatically that you can do anything - along with God's help. You'll need much more than positive thinking as you pursue your God-given dreams. You'll need the power of God.

Many people have read one motivational book after another and still haven't made progress toward their dreams. We need the supernatural help of God.

Have you been trying to sail to your dreams on your own power? If so, I guarantee you're getting nowhere - at least on the dreams that really matter in your life. The wind is dead.

Surrender your dream to God. Let him empower them.

Talk It Over

Why is it so difficult to consider handing our dreams to Jesus? What do you think we're afraid of?

What does it mean to give Jesus our dreams?

What area of your dream have you not given to Jesus?

The Kind of Goals God Blesses

"I do not run without a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something - not just the air." 1 Corinthians 9:26 (NCV)

Without goals you have no chance of a different 2014 than you experienced in 2013. The default in your life will always be more of the same. Long-term goals keep us from being discouraged by short-term setbacks.

We all have setbacks. I deal with them every day, but those setbacks won't slow you down if your focus is on something you're trying to achieve down the road. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 9:26, "I do not run without a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something - not just the air" (NCV).

You don't want to spend 2014 hitting the air, so ask yourself the following questions:

What's your goal for your marriage?

What's your goal for your family?

What's your goal at work?

What's your goal in your spiritual development?

Without goals, you'll simply coast and never live the life God intends you to live. But goals alone aren't the answer. God doesn't appreciate every goal you set.

God blesses goals that:

Bring him honor: The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (NIV). You can do everything - other than sin - for the glory of God. If you've got the right motivation, anything can be done to his glory.

Are motivated by love: God is far more interested in why you're doing something than what you're actually doing. God won't bless a goal established because of fear, but he will bless a goal established because of love. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 16:14, "Do everything with love" (NLT). Your goal must either be an expression of love to God or people.

Fulfill one of his purposes for your life: God put you on Earth to do five things: bring God pleasure, be a part of his family, become like Christ, serve God, and share your life message. If your goals are part of fulfilling one of these purposes, God will bless them.

Are set in faith: Your goals must be big enough that they'll take God's help to fulfill. Instead of setting a goal of losing 10 pounds in 2014, why not decide to lose 50? You'll need to depend upon God for that one. The Bible says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God." Hebrews 11:6a (NIV).

Are achieved by God's power: You will not stick to your goals for 2014 without God's power. You won't get healthy on your own. You won't improve your marriage on your own. The goals that really matter in life can't be achieved without the power of God.

Take a look at your goals for 2014. Are they goals that will honor Jesus? If you don't have any goals, start today and create some.

Talk It Over

What are some of the goals you've set for yourself in 2014?

Are the goals you've set for 2014 the kind that God blesses? Why or why not?

What do you want to be different about 2014 than last year?

God Has a Plan for 2014. Shouldn't You?

"[God] planned to bring all of history to its goal in Christ. Then Christ would be the head of everything in heaven and on earth." Ephesians 1:10 (GWT)

Goal setting isn't just a good idea for productivity. It's a spiritual discipline, like prayer, fasting, giving, and reading your Bible.

In fact, goal setting can be an act of stewardship as you attempt to make the most of all God has given you. You can waste your life. Plenty of people do it. To make the most of your life and invest it in a way that outlasts you, you'll need goals.

You're either someone who makes things happen or watches things happen - or maybe you have no idea what's happening! Those who make things happen are the people who change the world.

Even God sets goals. The Bible says, "[God] planned to bring all of history to its goal in Christ. Then Christ would be the head of everything in heaven and on earth." Ephesians 1:10 (GWT). God didn't sit around and let the history of the world unfold in a way he found appropriate. He planned history. God has goals for the Church. God has goals for every facet of the universe.

History is moving to a climax. There will be a judgment day, when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. History is moving toward that goal - because God planned it that way.

If God plans, so should we. God wants us to be like him in all facets of our lives, including goal setting. I've heard people say, "I'm not going to plan. I'm just going to trust God and go with the flow."

That's not spiritual; it's stupid! You shouldn't go one more day without making plans for this year. Otherwise, you'll drift through 2014 as you've likely done in previous years.

If God has a plan for the next year, shouldn't you?

Talk It Over

How does goal-setting make you a better steward of the life you've been given?

What are some goals you plan on setting for 2014?

How does your eternal perspective affect the kind of goals you set?

Choose to Live Your Dreams

"We are each responsible for our own conduct." Galatians 6:5 (NLT)

People deal with their dreams in one of three ways. They accuse, excuse, or they choose.

Accusers spend their entire lives blaming others for why they haven't achieved their dreams. Excusers make excuses for why they are not living their dreams.

Choosers do what it takes to live their dreams.

The Bible says that you were created in the image of God. The ability to choose is the quintessential characteristic that separates us from animals. It's one of God's greatest gifts to humanity. But since free choice means we're equally able to make bad choices, it's also your greatest curse.

Choosers take the responsibility for their choices and the direction of their lives. They don't blame others or make excuses. The Bible says in Galatians 6:5, "We are each responsible for our own conduct" (NLT).

Instead of complaining that you haven't achieved your dreams, take the responsibility for what hasn't been done. Your good and bad choices have a far greater impact on your ability to achieve your dreams than any other factor.

I've met people who were given nothing in life but achieved far beyond their dreams. I've also met people who were given everything they needed and wanted on a silver platter and yet wasted their lives.

You can't control your circumstances. You can control how you respond to those circumstances.

Proverbs 22:13 says, "The lazy person is full of excuses" (LB). Don't be that person. Stop making excuses for your unrealized dreams.

Make the choice today to do something about the dreams God has given you.

Talk It Over

Are you more tempted to make excuses or blame others for the unrealized dreams in your life? Why?

How do you know if a dream is from God?

What one step can you take today to move closer to a long-lasting dream in your life?

Seize the Moment!

"Be careful how you act; these are difficult days. Don't be fools; be wise: make the most of every opportunity you have for doing good." Ephesians 5:15-16 (LB)

Everyone has a dream. Maybe you've had it since you were a child. Maybe it came to you more recently. Desires, wishes, and ambitions should be a part of all of our lives. You may have hidden it deep inside of you, but you have a dream.

The question isn't whether you have a dream. It's "What are you doing with your dream?"

Most dreams never come true. It's not that we're not smart enough, not outgoing enough, or not spiritual enough. Usually, our dreams don't come true because we're unwilling to take the necessary risks to reach them.

The Bible shares a sad one-sentence commentary about a king who failed to achieve an important ambition in his life: "[King] Jehoshaphat built a fleet of trading ships to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail - they were wrecked at Ezion Geber" (1 Kings 22:48 NIV).

While it's a tragedy for your ship to never come in in life, it's a greater tragedy for you to build a ship and never set sail. Imagine the energy and expense expended by King Jehoshaphat. He built an entire fleet of ships to go after the gold, and not one of them set sail. They never got out of the harbor. Evidently a storm came up and, while these ships were in the harbor, they slammed against the rocks and were destroyed.

Some people spend their whole lives waiting for their ship to come. But God isn't waiting for your ship to come in. He's waiting for you to sail your ship out of the harbor.

I know a man who for 30 years had a dream of starting a ministry. He talked about it, dreamed about it, and planned it. He spent a great deal of time on this dream, but he never took the risk to do anything more about his dream. He never got his ship out of the harbor. Eventually, the man died - and so did his dream.

The Bible's antidote to that kind of tragic procrastination is as simple as an overdone catchphrase but excruciatingly difficult to apply at times: Just do it. The Bible says, "Be careful how you act; these are difficult days. Don't be fools; be wise: make the most of every opportunity you have for doing good" (Ephesians 5:15-16 LB).

The Bible urges us to seize the moment and act now. To live a life with unfulfilled dreams is a tragedy. Ships aren't made for the harbor. They're made to set sail.����

So are you ready to set sail?

Talk It Over

For what dream have you planned but never taken action?

What resources have you been waiting on in order to make your dreams reality? What resources are already available to you through God's provision?

What are the opportunities that you need to make the most of today?