Freedom - The Power of Perspective

Wow what a period I'm going through in my life at the moment!! I'm reaching a major decision point in my life regarding jobs and careers and all the other things that you suddenly notice for the first time when you finally get churned out of the educational factory of University. It would be so easy to get worked up by ever present deadlines, and to buckle under the pressure of my dissertation but I have learned a little secret, something I want to shout from this Rooftop.

There are many people who have passion and motivation. Just spend some time watching women in a shoe sale and it's obvious that we can all summon up unrelenting passion for something! Yet it seems to me that we only ever get this passionate for one-time or short running events. We can easily summon up a passion for something if it's only gonna take a few hours or maybe days, but it's hard to get excited about the long-haul. Christian living should all be about the long haul, about sticking it through to the end.

We are surrounded by one-hit wonders and people riding the back of instant success. I'll be brutelly honest, I don't care what Lewis Hamilton has to say, yet his was one of the best selling autobiographies this Christmas. I'm not inspired by people who have only just hit the scene. If Lewis Hamilton is able to stay at the top his sport for the next 10-12years, still pushing new success and still achieving greatness then I will sit up and listen. The most inspirational people in my church are those who have been christians for 30-40years and are still in church, still loving God and still pursuing new things in Him. These are the people I want to listen to, to glean from and I honour them.

Ask yourself, how long do you want to be a Christian? How long do want to be in church? This is my secret: I always want to be a Christian and I always want to be in my church. Therefore if I want to do this my whole life then I have my whole life to get it right!! Longevity is what I aim for, not success. Longevity is the key to success, not the other way round. There is unbelievable freedom in that revelation.

This is the perspective we have to take in our Christian Lifes. We HAVE to! I'm being serious when I say that the consequences of not seeing this only lead to disaster in a downwards spiral of negativity, condemnation, failure and depression. We need to get a Passion for the Long-haul.