HOW TO AUDIT YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE
BY EV. PETER FRANZ.
1. Am I content with whom I am becoming?
2. Am I becoming less religious and more spiritual?
3. Does my family recognize the authenticity of my
Spirituality?
4. Do I have a flow through philosophy in my life?
5. Do I have a quiet centre in my life?
6. Have I defined my unique ministry?
7. Is my prayer life improving?
8. Have I maintained a general ewe for God?
9. Is my humility genuine?
10. Is my spiritual feeding the right diet for me?
11. Is the obedience in small matters build in my
reflexes?
12. Do I have joy?
HOW TO INCREASE THE VALUE OF YOUR RELATIONSHIPS
REV. MESHACK MADEGWA
John 17: 11, 15
Relationships are worked on
Jesus said I pray they be one in this world, don’t
remove them from this world, but protect
them from the veil one.
One word that will transform your relationships is
appreciation.
We express appreciation to other people appreciation
raises their value.
Every time you appreciate your wife, your husband,
your children, your
family, your church, your friends, the people you
work with you raise their
value.
The Bible says we're supposed to do that. 1 Thessalonians
5:11 "Encourage
one another and build each other up." Ephesians
4:29 "Speak what is helpful
for building up others according to their needs."
What are people’s needs? The deepest need in
human beings according to
William James is their need to be appreciated. I think
there are many other
needs but that is one of the deepest. The need to
be appreciated. I read
about a place in England where they have "Dial
a Compliment". If you're
down, you dial that, and somebody on the phone will
talk with you and build
you up. People are hungry, they're starving for appreciation.
What do you need to appreciate in people around you?
1. WE NEED TO APPRECIATE PEOPLE'S LOYALTY
- Phil 1:3-5 "I thank God for you every time
I think of you because of the
way in which you have helped me in the work of the
gospel from the very
first day until now, both now that I am in prison
and also while I was
free."
Those people who hang in there with you, when they've
stuck with you, when
they've been faithful through thick and thin, when
they could have walked
out on you but they've stayed. You can count on them.
The point is, behind-the-scenes people deserve your
appreciation. They may
not be spectacular, they may not be the superstars,
they may not do anything
really out of the ordinary, but if they just stick
with you, you need to
appreciate that. Some of you have had a marriage partner
who has stuck with
you through a lot of junk. Maybe a bankruptcy, maybe
a mid-life crisis,
maybe a health problem, maybe you've stumbled and
had an affair, maybe you
were just being a jerk but they were quietly supportive.
And you need to
appreciate their loyalty.
2. WE NEED TO APPRECIATE PEOPLE'S DIFFERENCES
Colossians 3:13-15 (Phillips translation) "Be
patient and tolerant with one
another, always ready to forgive if you have a difference
with anybody for
you were called to live as one united body and always
be thankful." Don't
insist that everybody be like you -- think like you,
act like you, smell
like you, walk like you, do like you. Learn to enjoy
people's differences
and uniqueness. That's something we don't usually
appreciate. We want
everybody to be like us. We don't want them to be
different. But
differences aren't wrong, they're just different.
He's saying everybody's
beautiful in their own way. Thank God we're not all
alike.
I think it is an evidence of God's unique humor that
He loves to put
opposites together in marriage. I think God enjoys
it! If you're married,
one of you is an early riser. The other one doesn't
believe in God before
11 a.m.! One of you is daring and impulsive; one of
you is cautious and
reserved. One of you loves to talk! You can describe
things in detail and
you love to talk and talk and talk. Paul says, Be
patient! Be tolerant!
If you have a difference. Be thankful! Differences
in marriage add
balance. The marriages that have the most problems
are where they are
exactly alike. The greater your differences in a marriage,
the greater your
potential for growth. Acceptance of that difference
is an attribute of
maturity. It's not wrong, you're just different. And
it's OK to be
different.
3. WE APPRECIATE PEOPLE'S EFFORTS.
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 (Good News) "We always
thank God for you how you put
your faith into practice and how your love made you
work so hard. – Their
effort
None of us is perfect.
How do you appreciate people?
1. 1. IT NEEDS TO BE REAL.
Romans 12:9 (Living Bible) "Don't just pretend
that you love others; really
love them!" Circle "pretend" and "really".
Don't just pretend that you
love other people. Really love them. When you appreciate
other people it
needs to not be flattery, not syrupy. It needs to
be genuine, sincere,
heartfelt, no ulterior motive. You're not trying to
get something from
them. You're not trying to butter them up. Somebody
said one time usually
when somebody pats you on the back he wants you to
cough up something. Paul
says, Don't have any ulterior motives, don't just
pretend that you love
others, really love them. It needs to be real.
2. IT NEEDS TO BE RECOGNIZABLE
to show appreciation to the people around you, be
a more appreciative
person, it needs to be recognizable. That means it
needs to be clear,
specific. I've heard guys says, "I don't need
to tell my wife that I love
her. She knows it." She wants you to tell her.
"I love my kids. I'm just
not the affectionate type." You need to offer
hugs and kisses and words of
encouragement and tell them. It needs to be real and
recognizable. "I
wasn't raised that way!" Change! Learn to be
more open. Learn to develop.
Learn to speak a word of encouragement. Your kids
are dying to hear that.
So is everybody else around you. Be an encourager,
not a discourager.
There's enough bad news in the world. Christians of
all people ought to be
spreading good news, encouraging and lifting people
up.
Proverbs 15:33 (Good News) "What a joy it is
to find just the right word for
the right occasion." Have you ever had that experience?
You say something
and you know you made somebody's day! Because it was
real and it was
recognizable.
"A word of encouragement does wonders!"
Proverbs 12:25.
3. IT NEEDS TO BE REGULAR.
2 Thessalonians 2:13 (Jerusalem Bible) "We ought
to continually thank God
for you." Circle "continually". Galatians
6:10 (Living Bible) "Whenever we
can we should always be kind to everyone, and especially
to our Christian
brothers." Circle "whenever". King
James Version: "As we have the
opportunity."
It needs to be constant, not just once a year but
all the time. Why?
Because it lifts people up. Somebody said "A
pat on the back gets more
results than a kick in the pants."
A boss asks a secretary, "Would you get me some
coffee?" Secretary: "Why
certainly!" Boss: "Thank you." Secretary:
"You're welcome!" Same lady
goes home. Her husband says, "Would you get me
some coffee?" She says,
"What's the matter? Your arm broken? Get it yourself!"
What's the
difference? The atmosphere of appreciation makes all
the difference in the
world.
He says, "Whenever we can we should always be
kind to everyone." He means
give people flowers while they can smell them. A single
rose given while
somebody's alive is much more valuable than a wreath
at a funeral.
"Whenever we can" -- do it now! If you
stop and think, you'll thank.
Thinking and thanking go together. We have so much
to be grateful for.
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