Live life on purpose

Have you ever sat down and developed a plan for your life?  Some Christians think that such a plan shows a lack of faith in God and that we should just allow God to lead us in the path He has chosen for us.  I believe that God will lead us, but I also believe that He can lead us through planning ahead as well as through the the day-to-day choices we have to make.  Such planning can be done at any age, but the earlier we do it the greater the benefit will probably be.

I have to confess that I never really planned much of my life.  This post will be very personal because I now look back on that lack of planning with some regrets.  For much of my life I simply plodded ahead without a plan and dealt with whatever came up each day.  I am now at a stage of my life where I cannot go back for a do-over.  There are things that I wish I could now do that are probably not going to happen because I didn't prepare for them earlier in life.

What are some things that we should include in a life plan?  There is the spiritual aspect of life that should be important to every believer.  I don't believe many Christians have any kind of intentional plan to continue to grow spiritually.  Most go about their lives six days a week and try to go to church at least once a few Sundays each month.  The most dedicated may even attend Sunday school or even a mid-week service, but even that doesn't guarantee spiritual growth.  Spiritual growth, what used to be called discipleship, isn't just the accumulation of knowledge but includes putting that knowledge into action.  Spiritual growth doesn't happen without serving others, and at least part of that service should occur outside the walls of the church.

We should also plan for the physical aspect of our lives.  Americans have a serious problem with obesity.  I have fought weight problems all my life so I know how tough it is.  Last year I lost 50 pounds, but this year I let 15 pounds of that creep back in, and I'm working now to get it back off.  Many of the health problems we have are due to poor self-care: eating too much, smoking, drinking alcohol, a lack of exercise, etc.  Paul wrote that he disciplined his body, and we must do the same.  When I finish this post I am going to the gym where I try to work out at least three times a week, but I can tell you that mentally I don't want to go.  I have already thought of 4-5 reasons why I shouldn't go today.  For me, it is a discipline issue.  Do you have a plan for maintain a healthy lifestyle, and are you dedicated enough to live out that plan?  Or, will you make another New Year's resolution to eat better and exercise more and promptly forget about it on January 3rd?

Few people give much planning around their finances, and I'm afraid I am in the majority on this one too.  I recently read a recommendation to begin your working career living on 80 percent of your take home pay.  Ten percent goes to the Lord as your tithe and the other ten percent goes into your savings and investments.  The key is doing that as soon as you begin earning an income no matter how small it might be.  If we could start off that way in our very first job it would be easier to do throughout our working careers.  Living like that throughout working lives would allow us to enjoy a great deal of financial freedom that the majority of people will never know.  But, it takes a plan.  It means that you don't go into debt, you spend your money wisely, and you don't worry about keeping u with the Joneses. 

How much planning have to given to your career and ministry?  I separate the two because I know many of my readers are bivocational ministers who have both a career and a ministry.  I also want to be very careful here because I have a real problem with ministers who use churches as stepping stones to get to bigger and more prestigious churches.  I don't believe any church should be used as a stepping stone, and those who use them as such probably were not called by God to any of them regardless of what they might tell the church search committee.  How have you prepared yourself for the work God has called you to?  Planning ahead might help you see that your calling could change over time and you will need to prepare for that change.

Those of you who know my story know that I became a pastor with no ministerial experience and no education beyond high school.  Over the years I have earned three degrees including a recent DMin.  These degrees were pursued not for the sake of the degree but for the education I received with the degree.  Because I waited until later in life to pursue higher education I probably appreciate the education I have received more than if I had gone directly into college after high school.  But, the process of earning these degrees has been more challenging because I didn't begin until I already had a job, and a church to serve, and a family to raise.  I've spent my whole life earning an education that could have been earned in 10-12 years.  At times I do wonder how my life would have been different if I had taken a more traditional approach to education.

Now, I am interested in doing some other things with my life and finding that doors are not opening for me because I don't have a PhD or the experiences others have.  There's really nothing that can be done about either.  At 62 years of age I'm not going back for a PhD.  I'm not sure what that means except that unless God opens doors these things are probably not going to happen.

When I graduated from high school in 1966 I never gave any of these things a thought.  When I began my pastorate in 1981 I never thought God would ever want me to do anything other than pastor that church, and my intention was to stay there all my life.  I never really considered that God might want to open up other doors and that I needed to prepare myself for those opportunities.  Unknowingly, I made a choice to not develop a plan for my life in any of the areas I've mentioned, and that choice has now limited the choices that are available to me today.  I would encourage each of my readers to spend some time prayerfully considering what your lives might look like 20-30 years from now.  What gifts has God given you?  What are you passionate about?  How can you prepare yourself spiritually, physically, financially, and educationally for the new doors you would like to see God open up?  This can be done at any age, but the younger you are the more benefit you'll receive from such planning.  Live life on purpose and you'll find that life becomes a lot more enjoyable.