OPINION:
Dear Dr. E: I appreciate a lot of your advice and look forward to reading your column every week. You bring some good common sense to the table regarding our culture’s many challenges. In light of the hectic pace, so many of us suffer as we try to live a balanced life; I’d like to know if you have any advice for helping us establish healthy priorities for successful families and careers. What’s the one thing above all others that has changed your life for the better? — SINCERE READER FROM OLATHE, KANSAS
Dear Sincere Reader: There’s an old axiom, “Don’t put the cart before the horse,” and it’s been around for a while for a reason. It expresses a basic life principle repeatedly proven from generation to generation: First things first. A man who gets his priorities straight is a man who will get the other stuff right, too.
For me, the top of the list of what matters most is my standing with God. This is the most important aspect of my life. It is my summum bonum, my “highest good.” My relationship with Christ drives every other decision I make in life. It is the first thing I attend to each morning and the last thing I think about every night. It serves as the pretext and foundation for every decision I make, every thought I have, and every word I speak. It drives me to my knees in prayer. It raises me to my feet in praise. It breaks me in confession. It pushes me to excel. It renews my spirit. It cleanses my heart. Not only does it inspire me to pursue great things, but it relieves me of my guilt. It is a necessary hygiene of my soul and mind.
The number one priority in my life is to admit that I’m dirty and need to be cleaned up. Scripture tells me that this means that I die daily to myself and become a new creation in my Savior. Being a Christian means being transformed. My identity is in my Lord, not my libido. I am born again, not born that way. Living this out is done in spiritual disciplines — prayer, confession, Bible reading, Bible study, church attendance, service to God, evangelism, the pursuit of righteousness, practicing wisdom, and the list goes on.
From my earliest years, I have found that following Christ is not just the best way to die but the best way to live. This is true not just for me personally but also for my family and friends around me. Thanks to my desire to be Christ-like, to be a Christian, I am much easier to live with than I would ever be if I tried to live without Him. All of this isn’t just something that happens haphazardly — it is the result of actively and intentionally carrying out these disciplines and practices each day.
Faith is vitally important, and it cannot be maintained without work. Yes, it is very true that “it is by grace that we are saved through faith; it is not of our own doing. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any of us should boast.” But Jesus Himself also said, “If you love me, you will obey me.” Like anything else in life, faith is strengthened through routine, hard work, commitment, and having the right priorities.
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So, what does a daily regimen of spiritual hygiene look like? What does it look like to work out your faith with fear and trembling?
Well, first, we must understand that faith is not just a lazy acquiescence to God’s existence but rather an active, engaged, routine, and rigorous relationship with Him. It is a marriage with Christ, and as anyone who has been married to the same spouse for 20 or 30 years will tell you, marriage is an act of the will; it is hard work.
Faith is active, not passive. It is integrated, not segregated. Faith integrates head and heart, reason and emotion, belief and behavior. Faith practices what it preaches.
Every one of us looks back at some of the decisions we have made with money and wishes we had made better choices. Yet frivolous spending or other boneheaded moves can be redeemed and corrected. Student loans can be paid off, credit cards can be cut up, cars can be sold, and overdue bills can be paid. But in real life, the currency that matters most — our time — cannot be redeemed. Every day lost in faithless living is spent and gone.
The faith we’ve been given by God’s prevenient grace needs to be invested well if it is to grow and strengthen. Hiding it does no one any good. Your friends and family who need it most will never see it if you don’t practice it. And you don’t even benefit from it if it is hidden. An “uninvested” faith, tucked away where it doesn’t even earn some interest, is of no use. Your top priority should not be fame, finances, or family. I should be your faith. Make it your “first thing,” and you will never regret it.
If you are seeking guidance in today’s changing world, Higher Ground is there for you. Everett Piper, a Ph.D. and a former university president and radio host, takes your questions in his weekly ’Ask Dr. E’ column. If you have moral or ethical questions for which you’d like an answer, please email askeverett@washingtontimes.com and he may include it in a future column.
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