Do You Have A Week That Works?

Ephesians 5:15-16
“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”

We usually think more clearly about our money than we do our time (even if we do not manage our money better than our time).  Money is nice because it comes with receipts (whether we chose to keep up with those receipts or not).  We could not balance our time checkbook even if we wanted to, because time does not lend itself to such a device.

One trap that many of us fall into is thinking about what “should be done” or “would be good to do.”  Without sounding over the top, the problem both of these phrases have is that they are completely detached from reality.  They do not exist within 168 hours weeks (4, 24 hour days) or 672 hour months (4, 168 hour weeks).

Most of us can easily come up with 200+ hours worth of things that would be good to do each week – even without wasting time or sinning (knowing that we will do both).  The problem with that is that we are 32+ hours behind before the week begins.

From there it is fairly easy to predict what will happen – those relationships closest to us will be neglected.  Those are the relationships that “will understand” or are “the most flexible.”  Marriage and family get lost in our business.

In light of this you can see why it is so important to have a “week that works.”  Just like your financial budget – no week will actually look like this.  But also just like your financial budget – if you do not have a clear plan you are firmly committed to, you are going to be in a real mess.

The attached “Assessing My Priorities” worksheet was originally developed by James Petty in his book Step by Step: Divine Guidance for Ordinary Christians and has been slightly updated for this blog.  I would highly recommend his book.

As you begin the process of creating your time budget, be prepared to let go of some good things for more important things.  This may at first feel like guilt, but that is probably just a grief response to good things that you do not have time for.  Remember you are now prayerfully considering what God would have you spend your time on instead of just tending the pressing crisis of the moment.

After working on your personal priorities and time management, you will have to coordinate these with the other members of your household.  In order to have “marriage time” your spouses schedule must agree with yours (both in the number of allotted hours and when those hours occur).  In order to have “family time” each of the members of your family will have to have harmonious schedules.

Remember the benefit of this exercise is that you can devote time to those aspects of your life that are most important and you can actually enjoy that time when you have it.  It is hard work and will involve regular refining.  Life in a broken world does not naturally cooperate with godly priorities, but the fruit of honoring godly priorities are worth it.

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Using a Personal Journal for Spiritual Growth

Too often the use of a journal has been dismissed as feminine, “something you do when you need counseling,” or too time consuming.  But with a bit of reflection (which is all journaling is) we might come to a different conclusion.  Many of the great figures in church history has kept a journal, and the church has benefited greatly from this window into their daily life (not as a voyeur, but to understand what spiritual greatness looks like in the mundane-ness of daily life).  And while not a theologian, the great Socrates famously said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

If you are interested in starting the exercise of journaling let me offer the following suggestions.  Journal during the time when you do your daily Bible study.  Do not feel compelled to write something every day.  Do not write for an audience; write for your benefit and as it comes naturally for you.

When you begin with your journal consider the following subjects and review them annually in your journal.

• What are the top 5 values by which I want to operate my life?
• What do I believe are my spiritual gifts and talents?  What are my characteristic weaknesses?
• What are the key relationships in my life?  What are my goals for each of these relationships?
• How would I ideally spend the 168 hours I get each week (7/24 hour days)?

As for the journal entries that you write after these core reflections are in place, consider the following subjects.

• Self-examination based upon one of your top 5 values.
• A point of conviction regarding sin or a spiritual practice.
• Reflection on a day’s event in light of your “life story.”  These are great for sharing later with spouse, children, or grandchildren as a discipling moment or family heirloom.
• A personal goal for change and steps of implementation.  This is a particularly good subject to record after an insightful Bible study or sermon.
• A prayer in the form of a letter regarding a key life concern.
• An answer to prayer.
• A narrative of a key life event from younger days and the impact you see that it has had upon you.
• Insight from your daily Bible study.
• A humorous event.
• Sermon notes with your reflections.

I encourage you to consider this practice.  Many have found it as an immensely profitable way to (1) maintain a focus on your purpose in life, (2) increase the level of intentionality with which they live; (3) enhance the depth of their relationships, especially marriage and family; (4) measure progress and gain encouragement in their walk with God; and (5) remember God’s faithfulness during times that are difficult.

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The Christian Life in Community — Galatians 6:1-18

Chapter 6 Verse 1:   

What are the errors that we fall into that prevent us (the church) from being as effective as we ought at restoring fallen believers? I believe there are errors on both sides of restoration which hinder the church.  On the aggressive or prideful side, we can tend to play “sin cop.”  We can become more focused on eradicating sin than upon seeing sinners redeemed.  This can take the forms of legalism or truth without incarnation.  On the passive or neglectful side, we can view those areas of life in which we feel are “no one else’s business.”  It is uncomfortable and awkward to address these areas so we avoid them or pretend they do not exist.  

Chapter 6 Verse 1:  

To see Paul develop the posture/attitude of those who seeking to restore others further, consider 1 Thessalonians 5:14, “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”  

Chapter 6 Verse 3:  

In how many ways can comparative thinking distract and/or distort the way we think about life, ourselves, and our relationship with God? When we compare ourselves to others we inevitably create some type of “scoring system.”  This system assigns value or usefulness to each individual.  From that point forward all of life is about what we have (or don’t have) to offer.  We lose sight of the fact that God created us to receive glory from how He uses our strengths and weaknesses.  Once we fall into comparative thinking we will either succumb to pride or insecurity.  It is only when we capture Paul’s mindset in Galatians 6:14 that we are able to live with a Christ-centered confidence that is neither prideful nor insecure because (finally) life is not about us.  

“Becoming a Balanced Sower”
(Click Here for the PDF Handout)  

There is so much to sow.  Sowing to the Spirit involves everything that pertains to life and godliness (2 Pet. 1:3).  There are more “good things” I “ought” to be doing than can be done in a single week.  And God is not mocked.  If I neglect sowing in one area of life, there will be a lack of harvest in that area.  What can I do?  

It is important to maintain two key things: (1) priorities and (2) balance.  There needs to be a hierarchy to my relationships and activities.  There also needs to a breadth.  Too often we choose to only emphasize one of these wise sowing principles.  We become so committed to the top priorities that life loses balance or we are so diversified in our activities that priorities are never enacted.  And then the harvest comes.  

Use the chart below (chart with grid lines available in PDF handout) to begin to think through the priorities and balance of your life.  Prayerfully consider how God would have you sow during your current season of life.  

Life Area                                     Rank                             Hours/Week                           Key Changes            Bible Study/Prayer  

Church/Fellowship  

Marriage  

Family  

Work  

Sleep/Rest  

Hobbies  

Financial Management  

Evangelism  

Serving Others/Giving  

Household Chores  

Other  

 Introduction to the “Living Our Faith” series.

TOOL: “Using Prayer Time to Cultivate Ministry“  

   

 

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Moving Our Priorities Beyond First, Second, Third

From time to time we all think about priorities.  Usually when life is getting a little out of control and we know something is going to have to give.  When we think of priorities we often think in terms of “rank.”

Let’s say, for conversation’s sake, we have a husband (Steve) who is trying to get his time priorities back in line.  He knows he wants to love God will all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength by managing his relationships and activities in biblical manner (the charts below are Steve’s attempt to determine what loving God looks like in practice).  So he sits down and lists his priorities and ranks them.  He creates something that looks like chart 1.

This is good chart.  Most of us would applaud Steve for having things in the right order.  However, there is a false assumption embedded in the chart.  When we prioritize things by rank we often assume each item is equidistant from those things above and below it.  In Steve’s case we would assume the “value” score (out of a total of 100) would look like chart 2.

If this were the case Steve would spend twice as much time with his wife as he does at work and three times as much time with the kids as he does working on the house or personal recreation.  This is why we quit making lists of our priorities.  Life just will not cooperate and the list never seems realistic.

I believe it is more accurate and effective to conceptualize our priorities in terms of a “value rank” system.  Steve would still list his key relationships and activities.  However, before ranking them he would assign them a value based on a total 100 score.  From these value scores, Steve would then identify the rank of each item and seek to manage his life accordingly.  This would look like chart 3.

Whether you agree with the numbers or not, please follow the concept.  There are varying distances between successive ranks.  If we added more items, then the difference in value would become more pronounced.  We could make it a bit more complex by discussing how work is a way Steve provides for his wife and kids, but we won’t go there now.  We will seek to make two points of application.

First, we will look at how value scoring changes the way we think about sin.  Let’s say in Steve’s stress he takes up internet gambling.  He is spending time and money that should be devoted to family on his new “hobby.”  Steve is also gambling at work.  In a simple rank system (see chart 1) everything would just get dropped one place (chart 4).

Steve could probably quiet his conscience with this logic.  “It’s not that bad.  My wife is still second.  My kids are still third.  How far off can I be?”  We could answer Steve many ways, but let’s keep looking at the concept of priorities.  If we walked Steve though a value scoring system (see chart 3), he would see the reality of his sin much clearer (chart 5).

In order for gambling to become number one it has to accumulate the necessary number of value points.  This significantly shuffles all the other numbers.  Work also jumps because of the increased need for money.  The kids take priority over the wife, because she “nags” about money and housework.  We can begin to see the mess sin makes of life even before the life altering consequences of sin begin to emerge.  It makes sense why the two Great Commandments (Matthew 22:37-40) are commands of priority (love) not prohibition (thou shall not).

Second, let’s also use this concept to see perfectionism more clearly.  The perfectionist can utilize the value scoring system to see reality in a different way.  Let’s say Steve never started internet gambling, instead he is simply trying to earn his #1 Husband, #1 Father, #1 Employee, #1 Yard, and #1 Golfer mug all at the same time.  In this case, Steve would view his “rank” score simply as a matter of order.  Which relationship or activity do I master first, second, third, and fourth?  He would not see his error until he created a value score (chart 6).

If Steve cloned himself three times (equally 4 total Steves), then this chart would be great!  However, Steve is faced with the reality of being a finite human bound within the restrictions of time and his current season of life.  God has only called Steve to perform at the level of excellence that can be achieved in a 168 hour week (or 672 hour month) based upon Steve’s abilities, resources, season of life, and opportunities (managed within biblical priorities).

So what is our take away from this discussion of priorities? Hopefully, we have found a way of thinking about priorities that allows us to avoid both minimizing our sin and stressing out about perfection.  In addition, I hope we have gained a greater a more practical understanding of why Jesus said that all of the law and the prophets (the Bible) hangs on having our priorities (loves) in the right order.  If we have done that much, we have equipped ourselves to study the Bible more practically and with a motivation of worship.

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