What
Drives Your Life?
I observed that the basic motive for
success
is the driving force of envy and
jealousy!
Ecclesiastes 4:4 (LB)
The man without a purpose is like
a ship without a rudder-a waif,
a nothing, a no man.
Thomas Carlyle
Everyone's life
is driven by something.
Most
dictionaries define the verb drive as "to guide, to control, or to
direct." Whether you are driving a
car, a nail, or a golf ball, you are guiding, controlling, and directing it at
that moment.
What is the
driving force in your life?
Right now you
may be driven by a problem, a pressure, or a deadline. You may be driven by a painful
memory, a haunting fear, or an unconscious belief. There are hundreds of
circumstances, values, and emotions that
can drive your life. Here are five of the most common ones:
Many people are
driven by
guilt. They spend their entire lives running from regrets and hiding
their shame.
Guilt-driven people are manipulated by memories. They allow their past to
control
their future.
They often unconsciously punish themselves by sabotaging their own success.
When
Cain sinned, his
guilt disconnected him from God's presence, and God said, "You will be
a
restless
wanderer on the earth” That describes
most people today-wandering through life without a purpose.
We are products
of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it. God's purpose is not
limited by your
past. He turned a murderer named Moses into a leader and a coward named
Gideon into a
courageous hero, and he can do amazing things with the rest of your life, too.
God
specializes in
giving people a fresh start. The Bible says, "What happiness for those whose guilt
has been forgiven! ... What relief for
those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared
their
record."
Many people are
driven by
resentment and anger. They hold on to hurts and never get over
them. Instead of releasing their
pain through forgiveness, they rehearse it over and over in their
minds. Some resentment-driven
people "clam up" and internalize their anger, while others "blow
up" and explode it
onto others. Both responses are unhealthy and unhelpful.
Resentment always hurts you more
than it does the person you resent. While your offender has
probably forgotten the offense
and gone on with life, you continue to stew in your pain, perpetuating the
past.
Listen: Those who have hurt you
in the past cannot continue to hurt you now unless you hold
on to the pain through
resentment. Your past is past! Nothing will change it. You are only hurting yourself
with your bitterness. For your own sake, learn from it, and then let it go. The
Bible says,"To worry yourself to death with resentment would be a
foolish, senseless thing to do."
Many people are
driven by
fear. Their fears may be a result of a traumatic experience,
unrealistic expectations, growing
up in a high-control home, or even genetic predisposition.
Regardless of the cause,
fear-driven people often miss great opportunities because they're afraid
to venture out. Instead they play
it safe, avoiding risks and trying to maintain the status quo.
Fear is a self-imposed prison
that will keep you from becoming what God intends for you to
be. You must move against
it with the weapons of faith and love. The Bible says, "Well formed
love banishes
fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life fear of death, fear of
judgment-is one not
yet fully formed
in love."
Many people are
driven by
materialism. Their desire to acquire becomes the whole goal of
their lives. This drive to always
want more is based on the misconceptions that having more will
make me more happy, more
important, and more secure, but all three ideas are untrue.
Possessions only provide temporary
happiness. Because things do not change, we eventually
become bored with them and then
want newer, bigger, better versions.
It's also a myth that if I get
more, I will be more important. Self-worth and net worth are not
the same. Your value is not
determined by your valuables, and God says the most valuable things
in life are not things!
The most common myth about money
is that having more will make me more secure. It won't.
Wealth can be lost instantly
through a variety of uncontrollable factors. Real security can only be
found in that which can never be
taken from you-your relationship with God.
Many people are
driven by the need for approval. They allow the expectations of parents
or
spouses or children or teachers
or friends to control their lives. Many adults are still trying to earn the
approval of unpleasable parents. Others are driven by peer pressure, always
worried by what others might think. Unfortunately, those who follow the crowd
usually get lost in it.
I don't know all the keys to
success, but one key to failure is to try to please everyone. Being
controlled by the opinions of
others is a guaranteed way to miss God's purposes for your life.
Jesus said, "No one can
serve two masters."
There are other forces that can
drive your life but all lead to the same dead end: unused
potential, unnecessary stress,
and an unfulfilled life.
This forty-day journey will show
you how to live a purpose driven life-a life guided,
controlled, and directed by God's
purposes. Nothing matters more than knowing God's purposes
for your life, and nothing
can compensate for not knowing them-not success, wealth, fame, or pleasure.
Without a purpose, life is motion without meaning, activity without direction,
and events without reason. Without a purpose, life is trivial, petty, and
pointless.
Nothing matters more than
knowing God's purposes for your
life, and nothing can compensate
for not knowing them.
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