Me First No Longer

Me First No Longer

Lately (the last month to 6 weeks) I have been totally unfocused and really unmotivated…from everything, home and church and all life in general. This is not like me to go this long of a stretch in this mindset and it almost scared me. I actually thought I was depressed, I blamed the devil for tempting me, then I blamed the fact the holidays cost so much money we don’t really have, then I blamed the weather…I even blamed God.

I started reading through Joshua and discovered 2 big verses (they were always there, but just really stood out to me this time)…Joshua 1:6-7 and 3:5 (I will let you look them up and read them for yourself!). The first one is God speaking to Joshua encouraging him that he was capable of leading the Israelites after Moses died and the second was Joshua encouraging the Israelites as they were about to cross the Jordan and enter the promise land.

At the same time I was reading this I have really been challenged with something in my life that God is really making clear to me. I am pretty selfish. It’s true. I am a pretty independent person…always have been for some reason. That is a good quality most of the time, but it also can be a hindrance as well. Because of this I have decided to put me first no longer in the following areas…

1) My marriage – Maybe if I put it in writing I will follow through with totally treating my wife like a queen and be the supportive and leading husband I need to be.

2) My kids – I need to play with them more, pray with them on a deeper level, and enjoy them more…because they are only home for a little while.

3) My ministry – I need to share more of the load with this amazing youth & children’s team and not have to be “up front” every time doing it all. I must become less.

I’m reading over this and it kind of sounds depressing. I’m not intending it to sound that way, I’m intending it to be a challenge for me to become less so Christ can become more in my life. I really believe that God is trying to raise the bar in my life and I am still standing on the ground and staring at the bar instead of going for the goal HE has set for me in my life.

So many amazing things are going to happen in my life in 2011. My oldest graduates 8^th grade and I am so proud of Hannah and the woman of God she is and continues to be. I also get to welcome child #3 into the Johnson family in June and I am so excited about what amazing blessing God has in store for our family of 5!

I hope this helps someone as they are on their spiritual journey. It sure has helped me as I write this. I love my family and I am committed to leading them as I allow Christ to lead me. I also deeply love Mt. Gilead Church and am committed to being a faithful leader to the church and the youth & children’s ministry.

Thanks for reading!

Judge or Accountability?

Nowhere in the Bible does it talk about believers not holding other believers accountable for their actions. The important part of accountability is remembering some key points.

1) Accountability must be relational – It is much easier to hold someone accountable for an issue if you have a relationship with them. Relationships imply a “love factor” that realizes the accountability is to help your relationship grow stronger. If you are willing to hold someone accountable, you are also willing to, in the best of your ability, invest in the relationship for the long haul to help restore that person to a better way of living.

2) Accountability must be Biblical – Sometimes our culture confuses mere conveniences or personal preferences for Biblical truth. When we point out a failure or hold someone accountable for an action we must make sure we are coming from a godly point of view. Our accountability to others and towards others must begin with our accountability to God’s word.

3) Accountability must be forward-moving – Accountability is not a case of calling someone out and then ignoring the relationship (see point #1), instead accountability is for the purpose of positive steps to helping someone become emotionally or spiritually healthy. Accountability must always cause someone to make positive changes, not have negative emotions (although at the time there could be negative emotions such as denial, anger, etc…) in the long term.

I hope this helps the next time someone accuses you of judging them when in reality you are just trying to hold them accountable. I also hope this helps in making sure that our accountability is not passing a judgment on a person. As always, thanks for reading and I appreciate any feedback!