Category: Development

Personal Creed or Mission Statement

On By Heart, Mind and Soul CareIn Development, Mission of God, Personal Creed, Personal Growth, Personal Mission StatementLeave a comment

mission

I read this personal creed written by Rolfe Kerr. I do not know much about him, only that he wrote this powerful guiding statement. It helps keep him centered on what is most important. While he was not, to my knowledge, a professing Christian, there is still an abundance of wisdom from reading his guiding core values. I want to share it with you.

  1. Succeed at home first.
  2. Seek and merit divine help.
  3. Never compromise with honesty.
  4. Remember the people involved.
  5. Hear both sides before judging.
  6. Obtain counsel of others.
  7. Defend those who are absent.
  8. Be sincere yet decisive.
  9. Develop one new proficiency a year.
  10. Plan tomorrow’s work today.
  11. Hustle while you wait.
  12. Maintain a positive attitude.
  13. Keep a sense of humor.
  14. Be orderly in person and in work.
  15. Do not fear mistakes—fear only the absence of creative, constructive, and corrective responses to those mistakes.
  16. Facilitate the success of subordinates.
  17. Listen twice as much as you speak.
  18. Concentrate all abilities and efforts on the task at hand, not worrying about the next job or promotion.

While one need not agree with everything in a personal mission or creed that belongs to someone else, it is important for one to be focused in life on the things that are most important. And to do so, they must have a guiding principle to help them keep moving forward and doing those things they were uniquely gifted and designed to do.

In Matthew 28, Jesus gives his disciples, and all Christians really, an overview of what their personal mission statement must be; or at least in what direction and to what end Christians must work. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)

What is your personal mission statement? How does God’s Word guide and direct your everyday decisions? How is the choice you make today going to impact your experience, and the experiences of those around you, tomorrow? How are you letting God’s Word impact your choices today? To what end are you living your life? With eternal purpose and destiny? What can you do today to incorporate God’s Word into your life to impact, for eternal purposes, the experience of those around you tomorrow?

Meditation Leads To Transformation

On By Heart, Mind and Soul CareIn Development, Emotional Health, Healthy, Life, Personal Growth, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual HealthLeave a comment

meditation

Christian Fathers from centuries ago would distinguish between meditation and contemplation. Meditation would be the work of taking an idea or thought into our minds and mulling over it as it sinks deeper into our souls. Contemplation would be the gift of God as the fruit of meditation.

In the first century, one of the earliest Church leaders, whose name was Paul, explained in one of his letters to a church that was developing in Rome, that people can experience transformation as a result of the work of meditation. He wrote: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think . . .” (Romans 12:2 New Living Translation)

While meditation begins in the mind, it does not stop there. Meditation uses the whole person; heart, mind and soul.

An author and pastor was working on 1 Corinthians 10:24; he was gripped with the implications of how we are to think less of ourselves and more of others. He wrote:

All the implications of 1 Corinthians 10:24 are not yet clear in my mind and heart. This text is not done with me. I need to give it more time. And that is my reason for writing.

When a text grabs our attention, we must allow it time to do its work. The Spirit’s use of the sword of God’s word (Hebrews 4:12) to pierce into our deep places and bring about sanctification and transformation doesn’t always fit neatly into a daily devotional time or a Bible reading plan. Sometimes we need to clear our devotional schedule and linger over a text and wrestle with it, and probe into it, and let it probe into us.

Unhurried meditation is what leads to the mind’s transformation (Romans 12:2), which leads to behavioral application, which leads to lifestyle transformation. Such meditation may only require ten minutes, or it may take ten months. However the Spirit leads, linger.

Give the Word time to do its work. (Jon Bloom, President: Desiring God Ministries.)

Are you looking for ways to grow and develop in your life? Have you carved out time to spend deeply thinking about God’s Word and His ways?

A key way to grow and develop our heart, mind and soul in a healthy and holistic way is to spend time with God in prayer and meditation over His Word.