10 Sep 1.My priorities include my faith, my education, my athletic career, and my family.

1.My priorities include my faith, my education, my athletic career, and my family. First and foremost definitely being my faith, I make sure to dedicate and devote time to increasing my faith by furthering and deepening my knowledge with about God. After God, comes prioritizing family related agendas. Making sure the people that I love and care about that are around me is important in my opinion. Following that is prioritizing what deserves the most attention, such as school, considering I am paying thousands of dollars to get an education. Following that and sometimes running neck-and neck with it is my basketball career. Wanting to play professionally and earn a living off of the game that I love is not only a dream but a very big goal of mine, so making sure that I account for whatever that requires to make it happen is a priority to me.

            I believe thus far I do a fairly decent job prioritizing what is important and letting everything else take a backseat to the main things. In order to strengthen the balance between work, which for me is school and basketball, because that’s what is full time to me as of now, and balance the rest of my time, I should continue to keep God first. I should continue to seek wise counsel from those I look up to and am influenced by. Ultimately after dissecting this week’s content, I believe I am doing a good job of prioritizing.

Moving on, I am a witness of God’s favor. Not only am I a witness but I have first-hand experienced it. I have seen God move in me in remarkable ways that are truly unbelievable. The journey that I had to get where I am today, playing Division I basketball, has been nothing but pure favor by God. No matter how much work and sacrifice that I have put in over the years, I could not take credit for God’s hand being on my life. Romans 3:23 says, “for we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (ESV). So, yes, even through all the sins I’ve committed and mistakes I have made, God has still answered a prayer, exceedingly and abundantly above all that I could ever ask or imagine. And despite everything that I am undeserving of that he has granted me with, I can only continue to give thanks and worship him throughout my daily life. As I look back on those times, I am thankful, but I am also still living in those times because every day is a blessing, so I prioritize remaining faithful and showing gratitude to the Lord.

2.

Recall a situation in which you felt envy. In the end, did things turn out differently than you expected? For example, did you find out the person was not as fortunate as you thought?

As much as I do not want to admit I have found myself feeling envy toward other family members and friends in the past. We can look at the definition of envy as a mingling of a desire for something with resentment that another is enjoying, and we are not (Piper). Prime example of feeling envy or jealous is that a friend of mine has a beautiful singing voice and reads music great and even though I can sing I do not sound as good as she does. I found myself feeling guilty for feeling this way as God gives us each individual gift to share with each other. When we envy someone else’s God-given blessings, we run a risk of doubting and dismissing the gifts God has given us.  In the parable about  “Do We Envy Our Neighbor” the answer about feeling envy, dissatisfaction or resentment steams from our insecurities as we are not to be insecure in our faith or jealous of what others have as what we have been granted is provided by God in his grace (Cowan, p.60).  As envy creeps into our minds it is a universal threat to our joy and our concern for other people (Piper).  The Bible teaches us in many scriptures not to be envious as it is against God’s will for us to give into envy.  Paul says in Galatians 5:19-21 (CSB) says “Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing and anything similar. I am warning you about these things-as I warned you before- that those who practice such thing will not inherit the kingdom of God.”  Paul characterizes these things into three categories of the human life called sex, religion, and human relationships as the flesh manifests itself in obvious ways. After his warning, Paul goes on to write about the Fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-25 (CSB) “But the fruit of Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  The nine characteristics or attitudes or behaviors listed are inextricably linked that are commanded of believers according to Paul’s teachings.  Even though my friend has a beautiful voice, I learned that God did give me a voice to sing with but also gave me the gift of compassion to be a sounding board for others.

What are your priorities? How can you create a better balance between your work and the rest of your life?

When I first started down my career path in the mortgage industry, I will confess all I focused on was moving up the corporate ladder to reach my career goals. After about 7 to 8 years in mortgage industry I found myself burnt out as I was working 7 days a week and nearly 12 to 13 hours days which meant that I did not have much time for my family or church community. I knew something had to change and then it did I received a call that my dad was sick and was being transported to the hospital by ambulance.  When that happened my work life and family life collided like a freight train as my dad was ICU and my boss was calling saying must come to work. When that happened, I just stopped said no my family comes to before my job or career.  In the end my dad did not come home from the hospital and outlook changed completely that I had to start butting God first, then family and my career/job.   We must learn how to balance our life of faith with our work (Cowan, p.60).  Thinking about how I had to change my priorities there are few things we can do to achieve Work-Life Balance like Jesus (Stoudt) which are the following…

1.)    Have some fun.  Example Jesus turned water into wine a wedding and he was life of the party as it continued for days.

2.)    View our life as a whole (Do not compartmentalize). When Jesus turned the water into wine, he revealed his glory

3.)    Be intentional.  Jesus did not carve out his life between “work” and non-work”.  According Mark 1:35, Jesus got up very early while the others rested, he prayed.

4.)    Get away from it all.  Set up a time and place where you can unplug from it all.  Jesus departed to a desolate place according Mark 1:35

5.)    Talk with God by praying to Him.  Jesus made praying a priority and that is how he maintained perspective, margin, and balance

6.)    Let others come to you.   Jesus is the only truly indispensable person who lived.  Jesus’s teachings, grace, and ability to heal but him in great demand.  Jesus allowed others to track him down and not the other way around

7.)    Leave things undone.  Yes, this hard to do and yes Jesus did this as he had clear sense of his calling that He may teach others in other areas.

References:

Piper, J (1988). Battling the Unbelief of Envy. Desiring God. Retrieved:   https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/battling-the-unbelief-of-envy

Stoudt, B. 7 Ways to Achieve Work Life Balance Like Jesus. Retrieved. https://www.bryanstoudt.com/work-life-balance-jesus/

Cowan, D. (2012), Economic Parables: The Monetary Teachings of Jesus Christ. Downer Grove, IL: IVP Books.