Are You Convicted?

When I was younger, I used to collect sayings. I used to COVER my door and walls with basketball pictures, newspaper clippings of games, sayings about basketball, sayings about life, and sayings about faith. I would like to thank my parents for allowing me to put up these items – you may have experienced the grease issue after using puddy. Yet my parents still allowed me to express myself. There was a saying that I found a few days ago, that had the puddy grease stains in the corners, aging it to when I was a teenager. As I was reading through it, I was deeply convicted by the challenges put forth in these short fragments of thought.

Remember This:
1. God won’t ask what kind of car you drove, but He’ll ask how many people you drove who didn’t have transportation.

2. God won’t ask the square footage of your house, but He’ll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

3. God won’t ask about the clothes you had in your closet, but He’ll ask how many you helped to clothe.

4. God won’t ask about your social status; He will ask what kind of class you displayed.

5. God won’t ask how many material possessions you had, but He’ll ask if they dictated your life.

6. God won’t ask what your highest salary was, but He’ll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.

7. God won’t ask how much overtime you worked, but He’ll ask if your overtime work was for yourself or for your family.

8. God won’t ask what your job title was, but He’ll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.

9. God won’t ask what you did to help yourself, but He’ll ask what you did to help others.

10. God won’t ask how many friends you had, but He’ll ask how many people to whom you were a friend to.

11. God won’t ask what you did to protect your rights, but He’ll ask what you did to protect the rights of others.

12. God won’t ask in what neighborhood you lived, but He’ll ask how you treated your neighbors.

13. God won’t ask about the color of your skin, but He’ll ask about the content of your character.

14. God won’t ask how many times your deeds matched your words, but He’ll ask how many times they didn’t.

Convicted yet? I don’t know how theologically sound these all are – but I typed this up so that you would get the jist – the jist being, this life is not about us. It’s about loving God and loving people BEFORE OURSELVES. I feel this hits areas where our culture contradicts what the Bible says. Our culture looks at success as continually climbing the social and corporate ladder. But what if in those brief moments of success, we realize that still, this life is not about us. Yes, we should celebrate our achievements – but it’s only through God’s grace that we achieve. What if in those brief moments of being self-absorbed, we turn the table and think about what God thinks of us?

I told Dan today that in grief, I find myself being more convicted and challenged than ever before. I have realized things about myself that I do not like and I need to change. A lot of it has to do with not loving God and loving people first.

I post this in hopes that there is at least one area of your life where you are challenged. Unfortunately for me, there were multiple. I have never felt God’s presence so close in my life and I have never experienced the grace of God so abundantly. What a gracious and loving God we serve!