What are You

Have you ever noticed that there are people you know who are literally at the same place today as they were 5 years ago? The same place mentally, emotionally and spiritually. They still have the same dreams, the same problems, the same excuses and ultimately the same way of thinking. They haven’t moved an inch forward in years. It’s as if they’re stuck in some time warp where everything has stood still and they are frozen in a fixed moment.

You don’t have to read very far into the Bible to realize that God is constantly challenging his people toward growth. In fact, I can go so far as to say that it is his perfect will that we grow and mature and evolve from one place of faith to another.

I have often said that you can never expect anything AROUND you to change if nothing INSIDE you does. The moment of truth for you this week is this, YOU DON’T GET IN LIFE WHAT YOU WANT, YOU GET IN LIFE WHAT YOU ARE. Whatever you are producing or not producing right now is merely a reflection of who you really are.

So what is the answer? GROWTH. It begins with the decision to change and become. It means you have to break out of ruts and old ways of thinking that hinder you from embracing new possibilities. Only hungry minds grow... and that’s a fact.

One of my favorite quotes came from famed basketball coach John Wooden who said, “It’s what you learn after you know it all, that counts.” Brilliant. What he’s saying is it’s the new information you reach out to acquire after you have become comfortable with a certain body of information that makes the difference between excellence and mediocrity. Too many people gain a certain level of knowledge or experience and then that’s it, they quit growing, stretching and learning.

Goethe once noted that, “Everyone wants to 'be' but nobody wants to grow.” He’s right, and do you know why? Because its work and sometimes it hurts. It has a price tag associated with it that for many is simply too high. But as a great man once said, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”

I can look back over 16 years of ministry and tell you beyond the shadow of a doubt that ignorance will cost you more than education. Educating oneself is simply acquiring necessary knowledge one needs to move forward and progress. So education happens on many, many different levels. An important way to keep growing is to never stop asking questions. The person who is afraid of asking is ashamed of learning.

John Maxwell has often said, “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” The word of God spoke to me early in my life and when I read Proverbs 4:7 it affected me profoundly. It says...Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you will ever do and whatever you do develop sound judgement. Timothy was instructed to study so as to show himself proven and tested so others would know his ministry could be trusted and strong.

Never stop learning. Feed your spirit and cultivate a hunger for new information. Be teachable and open to fresh ideas and watch the Holy spirit bring you into contact with people and things that will change your life.

In April I am taking a 7 day journey to Prague in the Czech Republic to teach leadership to 100 Pastors from Poland, Hungary and Budapest. I have never been to this region of the world but my excitement level is high because I cannot wait to encounter something new and to see things that will deepen my life experience. I know, in some way, I will come back changed.

My question for you this week is this, are you growing? What significant change has happened in your life in the last five years? Have you changed for the better? Are you more mature now than then? How has your thinking improved? These are all great questions that I hope you will take the time to reflect upon.

So until next week remember... you are what you THINK, not what you think you are.

Peace.

All for Christ,
J.Mark