Tips To Consider
In the context of the sermon, there were several tips shared with the audience about keeping up their spiritual wakefulness. Those ranged from the practical to the ideological. Without applying what we know, we’re just dreaming.
The saying… “Knowledge is power” is incomplete. Potential energy does people very little good as long as it stays as potential energy. The real power is in kinetic energy… the application of the knowledge. So the phrase would better serve everyone if said as the following: “Applied knowledge is very powerful”.
Remain Engaged
Passive worship can be very entertaining… provided the services are very entertaining. Anyone can be a spectator. Many dads have been accused of being spectator parents. It’s easy to sit by and watch. Participation is work.
Raving sports fans feel that they’re deeply connected to their teams… to the point of believing their rituals impacts the outcome of the game. However, the actual stake holders who influence the outcomes do not sit and watch the game. They play the game to the best of their ability in their respective capacity.
If we want to remain spiritually engaged, we have to participate in the process of growing spiritually. Sitting in service and texting friends about how lame the preacher is… will not do the job.
Same with being the CEO of your home. You’ve got to connect with your spouse, you have to connect with your child(ren), and you’ve got to work on yourself. It’s hard work, it’s worthy work, and it’s best achieved when it’s done as smart work.
The minute Eutychus disengaged, sleep overcame him, and he fell. The minute we disengage from the home… we start to drift apart and grow apart. If we don’t catch ourselves quickly, relationships quickly grow cold and apart.
Test your knowledge
Ideas kept inside a container leads to a very narrow perspective. The more people share ideas, the brighter and better the ideas are. That’s the way social creatures work. They share.
We’re not talking about social media, where people talk at folks. We’re talking about good old fashioned face to face conversations where ideas are shared, deepened, challenged, and strengthened.
In the spiritual and church sense of this, a person has to share their beliefs with others at some point in time. In the process of sharing, we can quickly discover gaps in our understandings. Then, we have critical insights into which voids of knowledge we have to fill. The feedback cycle allows a person to grow their understanding over time.
In the business sense, the only way to know if a product is good… one has to get market validation. If people don’t buy, there is no need for the product as advertised. If some sell, but not a lot, then there isn’t mass appeal. If it sells at or above expected, there is strong demand and the market feels the product is what they want. But, if there are no returns and there are raving reviews, now you know you’ve got the needs of the market met.
In the spiritual sense, you’ve got to validate your beliefs… meaning… test them. Talk to others. Compare notes. Study together. Speak to unbelievers, and see if you’re able to communicate your beliefs in a way that make sense.
As parents, we need to learn from other parents to find out the best practices. We need to study the science, the experts, and those who not only have done it, but are doing it. The sharing of ideas will help strengthen your understanding of your tools as a parent.
Any deficit in tools will become clear the more you share ideas and test ideas. Those tools that are strong… keep using. Those that are weak, upgrade. Those that don’t work at all, discard. You’ll know how well your doing by watching your child’s progress.
By constantly testing our biblical knowledge, we gain mastery of it. Same for every other endeavor a person may want to take in life. You’ve got to sharpen your skills by training, testing, competing, resting, reviewing, assessing, then rinse and repeat.
Practice Practice Practice
Too many people appear to be experts on their favorite social media profile. Too many people come to church acting saved and holy. Too many people fake the funk.
Being ethical and authentic means walking in integrity. Practice what you believe to be true. Don’t be arrogant and narrow minded about it. However, be all about it.
If you don’t believe in spanking, don’t allow yourself to fall into a situation where you strike your child out of anger. If you believe in family vacations, then, be sure to have your vacation requests submitted early at work so you an enjoy your time with your family.
The world has enough amateur experts in every walk of life. The world needs real authentic people. That’s why the word “authentic” is being abused so much. The world is looking for it and people are trying to paint themselves as being “real” and “authentic” to meet the need.
We don’t need to tell anyone we are real. They will see by our actions that we are real. They will see that we’re authentic.
How do we get there? We just do it. We just work at it. We just keep improving. We keep doing. Not just reading about it. But actually putting in sweat equity.
No one becomes a great parent by wishing it. One becomes a great parent by doing daily great parent things. Over time, we become great. It’s not faking it until we make it. It’s just improving every day until we master the art and skill.
A ‘fake it’ approach will not invest the time in getting better. But a growth mindset always creates time to improve, review, learn, and try better… until try becomes doing.
Which brings a salient point:
You can’t do this alone but you must do it by yourself – Loral Langemeier
Huh?!? You read that quote correctly…
