Christian Education Europe - Weekly Blog #biblical character

Being Committed

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 12:11:13 +0000

Sometimes we are given the impression that to commit to something means that we will most certainly be missing out on something else MORE valuable.

In childhood, committing to tidying your room may make you think that you are missing out on play time.

In your youth, committing time to studies may make you feel like you will miss out on being with friends or keeping up with the latest trend.
In your adulthood, committing to work, or family, may make you feel like you are sacrificing one for the other.

You get the point.

It’s not black and white.

To a degree it’s true, Commitment = Sacrifice, but it’s not as black and white as that. You see, commitment is when you prioritise the thing that you know will be of more lasting importance in the long run.

Think back to a time when you prioritised your studies over going out with your friends. In the moment it may have felt like a loss, like you were missing out on some fun, but in the long run you were able to pass a test that you may have failed and move forward in your education.

This is not to say you should ALWAYS prioritise work over fun. There is a time for everything, and there is a place for being committed to your social life as well (in fact, this is highly recommended).

Commit to the RIGHT things.

The point is, you have to make sure that you are committed to the RIGHT things at the RIGHT time.

It’s certain that every one of you reading this can think of a time when you chose to commit to the wrong thing. Now, looking back, you regret the decisions you made because it inconvenienced your bigger picture in the future.

Wisdom is our friend.

Wisdom is our friend during the times when we face decisions about what we prioritise.

“My son, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off.” – Proverbs 24: 13-14

Wisdom is like a pair of glasses—when you equip it, everything becomes clearer. You get a bigger a view of the situation.

When it’s time to make those life decisions, look at your choices through the lens of wisdom.

Ask yourself questions like:

Which of these choices have the most benefit?
Which of these choices are best in serving the kingdom of God?*
Which of these choices will build me and my family up?
Which of these choices is the kindest?

*If you have already made a commitment to Christ, then you need to start making choices that show that commitment.

Once you have the answers to your questions, make your choice.

What is being committed anyway?

Committed adj.

Pledged or bound to a certain course, dedicated.

Sounds massive, doesn’t it?

And sometimes it is. Marriage for example…HUGE COMMITMENT. Other times the commitment is smaller, but still important–like making sure that you get through that pile of washing so that you have clean clothes to wear next week.

When you make a commitment, you are saying, ‘I’m going to see this through to the end.’ And whether that is to the end of your life, like marriage, or the end of the week, like your washing, it’s important!

You’ve made this commitment because, through wisdom, you have decided it is valuable in your life. Therefore, it is essential that you see it through to the end. Complete the mission you have set for yourself and reap the rewards!

Make a record of your reasons.

If things start getting difficult, it’s easy to lose sight of why we made commitments in the first place. This is why it’s good to make an account of your reasons when you make the decision to commit to something.

For example:

You have committed to walking at least half an hour every day because you have learned that moving your body regularly is key to a healthy lifestyle and mental wellbeing, especially during this pandemic when you are at home and sedentary for most of the day. However, it’s been raining the whole week! You don’t feel like going for walks in the rain. How do you stay committed?

First of all, look back to your reasons for making this decision. Oh yeah, ‘healthy lifestyle & mental wellbeing’. Then, find ways to get round the difficulty–Get your wellies and raincoat on, or do some jogging on the spot or use a skipping rope in the home.

Reap the rewards!

At the end of the day, we make commitments because we think something good will come from them. In the last example, the reward was good health. In marriage, the reward is a partner for life and children, and extended family. Every commitment has an outcome, and if we stay committed that outcome is often VERY rewarding.

The commitment = the reward:

Committed to your friends and family = The trust and respect of your friends and family
Committed to your job = Great work ethic, quality work output
Committed to your education = A strong foundation for future prospects
Committed to the Lord = The blessing of God on your life

Today we are all facing the decision to commit to something. Let’s do ourselves a favour and look at our choices through the lens of wisdom, make our commitments (big or small), and then see them through to the end.

Take some time when you can, and write down the reasons why you have made certain commitments. Put them in a place where you can see them, and then, if you ever feel like you’ve made a mistake or feel like giving up, read your reasons and be inspired to keep going!

You can do this!

Encouragement from the Scriptures:

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” – Galatians 6:9

“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” – Proverbs 16:3

“But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.” -- James 5:12

Do you have any other Scriptures to share or advice about how to stay committed? If you do, feel free to share below :D

The Pursuit of Confidence

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 12:04:25 +0000

In the space of a year, many of our lives have been changed in ways we couldn't have expected. Big changes like the ones we have faced can knock our confidence, and in turn, affect our physical and mental health.

Practising confidence can help lift us into a better mentality and boost our self-esteem, which leads to us being able to look after our physical health more. Some people are naturally more confident, but that doesn't mean that confidence is inherent in some and absent in others. No. Just like any skill, if confidence is practised, you get better at it!

"But how does one practise confidence?" you may ask.

Know Your Worth

The root of confidence is knowing your worth. If you want to know your value, you just have to remember that you are child of God. Anything created by God is not a mistake, not purposeless, and not worthless.

King David got it right when he wrote these words in Psalm 149:14 –

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

Don't look at yourself from your own flawed view of what a person of worth is, look at yourself through the eyes of God, the One who created you. Since you are a creation of God, you ARE wonderful. He thinks that, and so should you.

Praise God

Whenever you start to feel down about yourself, do what David did. Praise God for choosing to create you as one of His wonderful works. Thank Him for your ability to think, and learn, and move and breathe; thank Him for the potential He has placed within you.

Allow your self-esteem to be influenced by how God esteems you, and your confidence will be off to a flying start!

Steps of Faith

A great way of practising confidence is to take calculated risks.

This doesn’t mean you have to go base jumping or invest all your earthly savings on the stock market. It’s more about encouraging yourself to step outside your comfort zone.

Life is so short, and the only way to accomplish things is to actually try.

Doubts about our own abilities are huge factors in slowing us down, but let’s outsmart those doubts. The truth is: most of the time we are never REALLY good at anything to begin with.

The only way you can do something well is if you practise it, and the only way to practise something is to do it. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t perfect at first, take a step of faith and put yourself in the running.

God created us with minds that are able to learn. Trust in the wonderful system He has placed within us. Have faith that He can make all things good.

Write down the vision you have for your future.

Write down all the doubts that are stopping you from working towards that vision.

Reword those doubts into productive goals.

See how this process helps you get closer to your vision.

Example:

Vison: I want to complete this difficult Maths PACE.

Doubt: I’m not good enough at Maths to get this equation right, so I won’t try it.

Goal: I am weak in this area of Maths, so I will use this equation to practise because it will help me improve.

Result: I’m better at Maths.

Pushing yourself outside your comfort zone causes you to accomplish more than you would if you stay safely doing nothing. Even if you don’t succeed straight away, these little steps of faith are an investment towards a future version of yourself who is confident in accomplishing the task at hand.

If you want to read some Scriptures about making calculated risks (or wise investments), you can read in Matthew 25:14-30 a great story on the topic, told by Jesus himself.

Battle Laziness

Another reason that we are low in confidence is that we are lazy. Confidence is a characteristic that is fuelled by activity. These activities could be—taking care of ourselves, cleaning up our space, or getting our goals complete. The more you do these things, the more you feel better about yourself, are healthier, and feel brighter. All these things lead to more confidence, which leads to being more able to take on further challenges, causing a healthy and positive chain-reaction.

Laziness, on the other hand, is what fuels our doubts, fears, and saps us of confidence. Laziness WILLS confidence not to exist. Laziness does not want to encourage anything to grow if it takes effort.

Laziness is a thief. It steals time, it steals joy, it steals self-worth, and of course, it steals confidence. Awful, right?

If you want to grow confidence, you MUST battle your laziness.

If you are hit really hard by the laziness bug (it gets us all from time to time), one of the best ways to combat it is to give yourself a simple structure through the day. Take some time to write down the tasks you want to complete within a day (not too many), and use all the energy you have to complete those tasks.

Once you have shown yourself that you can accomplish that set of tasks, you might be ready to add more, until eventually, you will have made a habit.

"The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied." – Proverbs 13:4

"For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat." – 1 Thessalonians 3:10

"The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor." Proverbs 21:25

"The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway." Proverbs 15:19

The Bible pulls no punches on the subject of laziness; neither should you. Don’t let laziness rob you of your confidence!

These are just a few ways in which you can pursue and maintain your confidence.

In Summary:

Know your worth – You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Praise God – Reinforce the knowledge of your worth by thanking God for creating you.

Take steps of faith – Turn doubts into goals.

Battle laziness – Don’t allow this thief to rob you of your opportunities.

We hope you can put some of these things into practice today, and that your confidence becomes an expression of the great things God is doing in your life.

Are there other ways that you would recommend boosting confidence?

Working Diligently

Fri, 17 Jul 2020 09:41:18 +0000

During the COVID lockdown there has been some confusion over who is working, who is on furlough - who is paying for what - who is working from home, indeed what is work! Many large corporations are reassessing how work is managed. Some have said they don’t need large offices in big cities. Office staff can work more efficiently online from home etc. etc. Some have been made redundant (not a biblical term). This all seems far removed from the curse on Adam due to sin, 'by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground’ and the follow up--only slightly more positive--text in Ecclesiastes 9:10: 'Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going’. Through the ages work has evolved from being a curse to becoming a way of salvation. Indeed in many religious traditions good works lead to salvation of one form or another. However, the biblical teaching is that good work is evidence of the saving Grace of God in our lives. As Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. But then some (not all) in society argue that if you get free gifts--such as Government benefits--you are less inclined to work. Paul corrects the misapprehension of easy grace in Romans 6 and of course in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 he writes: 'For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies.' Doesn’t that describe some of the problem of busybodies in society today?

So what is the answer? In a word, Character. In another word, Diligence. Obviously, this applies as much to home schooling/learning!

Solomon writes, 'Guard your hearts with all diligence for out of it is the wellspring of life’. The heart should be the starting place for great works. You believe in your heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead and are justified (by Grace). It is good to have a combination of physical work and mental work and spiritual work but all should start with the heart. We travail in prayer because we are burdened in our hearts. Prayer is not a mental exercise. We achieve great physical works when our heart is in it (if your heart is not in your work it becomes a slog). When our heart is right before God our minds are stimulated towards discovering not only the mysteries and miracles of Creation but what is right and what is wrong with the world and why it is wrong! Some atheists say they don’t need meaning or purpose in their lives. One wonders how they are ever motivated to get up in the morning? For Christians however, the eternal purpose and motivation for good works is to bring glory to God out of thanksgiving for all He has done for us. Work becomes a joy. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10). When the life of Christ becomes real to us then living it out becomes a natural outWORKing. Whatever you do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord and not to men, Colossians 3:23.

Secular sociologists, historians and philosophers may see the ‘work ethic’ as a method for making money, spawning an industrial revolution or achieving protestant hegemony (as some Chinese researchers have surmised) but for Christians it is simply a matter of diligence before God as an outcome of a great salvation--not looking out for the praise of men but looking forward to the heavenly commendation, “Well done good and faithful servant."

THE GREATEST COMMON DENOMINATOR

Mon, 15 Jun 2020 14:30:38 +0000

Paul uses two examples of cooperation in his writings which are complementary. One is of a building 'fitly framed together’ with the Lord Jesus the Chief Cornerstone (Ephesians 2 vs 21). The other is of a Body with each member belonging to all the others (Romans 12 vs 5) with the Lord Jesus as Head. The common denominator in both is the Lord Jesus. He is the firstborn from the dead. We are born again into new life in Him—note, not new life to sail off into the sunset on our own. There is no Christian life outside the Body of Christ. Any who think they are independent become an anomaly, an unnatural growth which distracts from the beauty of fellowship in the Body of Christ. The wonderful blessing of fellowship is that we share the Lord Jesus in common. By definition, fellowship (Koinonia) is not individualised. The reality of the Body of Christ is that we are ALL growing up into maturity, attaining the full measure of Christ. This takes cooperation. We all have different gifts (Romans 12 vs 6) but the same objective—to bring Glory to God and blessing to the Lord Jesus His Son, and His Body.

Whatever you do in word or deed, do it as unto the Lord (Colossians 3 vs 23). Once we get the vision that what we are doing is not for ourselves or even for each other, but primarily for Him and for His glory, it raises us up to a higher calling and motivation. The things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of His Glory and Grace. It doesn’t mean therefore that we don’t see needs that there are (and there are many) on earth, but rather that we see them more clearly. We see the priorities with God’s heart and purpose, which is not short-lived or a 'quick fix' for self satisfaction. Get right with God, and you will be right with one another. Be at peace with God and your neighbour. Love God, and love your neighbour as yourself. All these great truths, which were once part of the fabric of our civilisation, seem to have been replaced by 'self-ism'. No longer 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you' but rather 'look after number one’!

On the positive side, it should be said that the current COVID-19 crisis has led to an awareness that something is not quite right with the direction of travel of the modern world. And to be fair, more people are saying good morning when they are out on their social-distancing walks. It may be that there is more time to relax from the pressures of work during lockdown, more opportunity to see God’s Creation and hear the dawn chorus with less cars on the road. Whatever it is, there is certainly a great opportunity for us to rise up and cooperate in a combined testimony to the love and grace and forgiveness of God, not least in the light of the death of George Floyd and it’s aftermath. At a time of great uncertainty and instability, we should individually and collectively point to the stability of life in Christ Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, to every tribe tongue and nation of every generation. We should point to the common highest goal of living for Him. Not the lowest common denominator of trying to avoid confrontation.

The need for repentance, forgiveness and salvation should be addressed by us all and not left to one or two spokespersons. We live in such an atomised and fragmented society that it is not realistic to expect one organisation or dynamic leader to reach every sector of society. We have different callings in different spheres, and we must all be faithful witnesses in the area where the Lord has planted us. How shall they hear unless there is a preacher? We should all be preachers through whatever channel the Lord has given—to our family, friends and neighbours. It doesn’t help when some who bear the name of Christ deny His teachings, but God is judge, and one day He will separate the wheat from the tares. Let’s enjoy being wheat growing up together, planting, watering and waiting for the Lord to bring in the harvest. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase (1 Corinthians 3 vs 6). And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart (Galatians 6 vs 9). He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves with him (Psalm 126 vs 6).