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January 2008

Eight Life Principles for 2008

I was thinking of this upcoming year & wanted to invite you to consider some authentic ways to live out 2008. See how these principles can be applied to your life each day…

Be Thoughtful:
This means more than "to think." Everyone thinks. Being thoughtful means, thinking about someone other than yourself. It means creating a balance in your thought processes. It means taking time to consider others.

Be Thorough:
This principle implies that in every assignment-either given or created-there are guidelines to follow. It means that we should start at the beginning of a project and end at the ending, not the other way around. To complete what we start is a principle that works in any endeavor.

Be Orderly:
How can we expect to excel in something through disorganization? Some people apparently believe they can. At least, that is the way they run their lives. Nothing organized. Nothing planned. I call this the "Whatever will be, will be" lifestyle. Doris Day made a mint on the song, but we cannot.

Be Realistic:
Everyone is smart about something! This principle says, "Use your smarts to make sensible choices." This is not rocket science. It is life science! We already know our limits (or we should know them). Live within them!

Be Reliable:
People should be able to trust your word. If you say you will do something at a given time and place, follow through on it. Trust is the key word here.

Be Kind:
Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians, chapter 5. Being kind is rarely commanded in the Bible, but Paul left us a good one in Ephesians 4:32. Look it up! It should be on your "to-do" list for 2008.

Be Accountable:
To plan is to promise to do something. Fulfilling our promises is a principle that works where we live and work. Spiritual accountability means that God expects us to answer to those in authority over us.

Be Yourself:
It is foolish to try to be someone other than yourself. People recognize phony people by their phony behavior. Begin with yourself. Manage that. Then you can manage others.

The following prose was read at the funeral of Her Majesty the Queen Mother on April 2, 2002. Her husband, King George VI, began his Christmas address to the nation in 1939 with the reading as well. The piece by M. Louise Haskins is widely quoted in religious writings at the beginning of each year:

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, "Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown." And he replied, "Go out into the darkness and put your hand in the hand of God. That shall be to you better than the light and safer than a known way." So, I went forth and finding the hand of God trod gladly into the night. And he led me toward the hills and the breaking of day....

May 2008 be a year of great encouragement for each of you as you draw near to God & walk in His ways.

God richly bless you.

Your Loving Shepherd,
 Pastor Kevin

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