SELFISH

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“Dreaming and walking down the road to awesome is not inherently selfish” – Jon Acuff

092213_2323_SELFISH1.jpgIs it wrong to want to publish an award-winning blog or to write a New York Times best-selling book? In a word: No. If you have been called by God to do something, it is never selfish to desire to be wildly successful at it! God has called you to a task, a mission, with a purpose for you. God wants you to be wildly successful.

Let’s make sure we are clear though. You have to desire that success for His glory. His glory alone. For many of us (myself included) this brings up the question of how to combine “wildly successful for God’s glory” with “wildly successful for my income and for my family”. It can sometimes be difficult for us to come to terms with success. Satan does some of his best work when he twists our success into pride. He also does some of his best work when he takes our success and plants rapidly growing seeds of guilt in our psyche.

I was brought up with the guidelines that I was to work hard at my job, do my best, don’t rock the boat, and collect the pay check. These things are all good. But why have these ideas become purveyors of guilt, and why have they put in us a fear of asking for something better? Is asking for a raise a selfish act if you’ve been a loyal, hard-working employee? Is it wrong to desire a job you truly enjoy?

I’m trying to walk down a road that will bring me to my personal “awesome”. Fear sometimes tells me to stop dreaming and stop walking down the road. No more. I am going to walk down the “road to awesome” with a purpose and a goal. I will walk and dream with intent. I’d like to invite you along for the walk. Join me.

What dream have you put aside because fear has told you to “do the right thing”?

If you want to see how some other people are being “selfish”, check out my friends at FrankenStart.

Helping Others

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Dave Ramsey – “Helping other people better their lives is way more fun than obsessing about bettering your own.”

You know those times in your life when things are not going the way you think they should? The times when you say, “This is not at all how I expected it to be!” Times during college, dating , marriage. That moment when you bring your child to the doctor…for the 8th time in three weeks. The moment when you discover your spouse has an addiction (porn, booze, shopping, etc.). The times when it feels like nothing is going right and your whole world is crashing down around you. An accident. Financial ruin. Betrayal. Illness. Death.

In those moments, what do we often hear from people? What words of “comfort” do they offer? The words you don’t want to hear.

“This is all part of God’s plan for your life.”

“He is allowing you to go through this so that you will be stronger on the other side.”

Ugh. Horrible words. No comfort at all.

I recently made a discovery about these well meaning words. They are all true.

This is not to say they should always be given to your friends and family during times of trial.

What I mean when I say “They are all true” is that I have found the place in my own life where they are suddenly true for me.

I’ve spent years and years wondering when all the crap in my life would be helpful. I never imagined it would come so soon. I’m 42 years old. Doesn’t this need to stew and simmer for a couple of more decades? Nope. God is telling me the time is now. Now is my time to help others. He has uniquely prepared me for “such a time as this.”