Some may disagree but these are my thoughts on the Christian life…specifically when someone claims to be a Christian and what that life should look like.

Time

I strongly believe there ought to be some marked differences in the way a Christian spends their time.  Every person on earth has the same amount of time.  24 hours in a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  Umm, 366 days this (leap) year. So when I break my day down, have I served myself all day or have I honored God with my time?  Have I served my family by teaching them about Jesus or have replaced him with things in our culture?  How much emphasis have I placed on spiritual things compared to the rituals of daily life?  I’m just saying, what kind of balance is there in the average Christian’s life?  And really, balance is the wrong word here.  Paul says in Colossians chapter 3 for the word of Christ to dwell in us richly and whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  Bible, prayer and serving times are God honoring.  There are some other real time-suckers in my life.  How about you?

Money

It has been said that if you look at someone’s checkbook, you will see what things people treasure.  The saying is a little dated in this day of debit cards and electronic fund transfers.  To a certain extent I agree with it but I think it is not only what you spend money on, it’s what you don’t spend money on.  I’m not going to make a big list of things to spend money on and things to not spend money on.  Lists are stupid and reek of religiosity.  What I would rather suggest is to have a conversation about what are the reasons God gives us money.  What does he expect us to do with the income we earn?  I’m not talking about percentages for this or that.  I’m talking about on a whole, do I use my God-given money to bring glory to him or to myself?  Do we worship God and spread the love of Jesus with our resources or do we rob God and waste money on things that have no eternal value and that do not help spread the kingdom of God? Depending on where you live, buying certain things could give you great opportunities to share the gospel.  In other places, those things would be a total waste of money.  Am I purposeful about spending my money? Here is a test:  If you were suddenly given $10,000, what’s the first thing that comes to mind that you would spend it on?  What are the top five things that come to mind?  I’m not telling you my top five…way embarrassing.  Mark Driscoll had one of the best sermons I’ve heard on giving last week. Check it out.

Relationships

If you were to anonymously poll 20 people that you spend time with, what would they say about you?  What would they say about how you treat other people?  What would they say about how you show Jesus’ love towards others?  Would people say that I worship God by serving others or would they say that I worship myself by serving myself?  How much grace, love and mercy do I have in my relationships?  Jesus demands that we have certain people in our life on purpose.  Some people are to speak into our lives to help mold us into the image of Christ.  Other people we are supposed to mentor and help along.  Still others just need to be loved unconditionally because no one ever has.

So there you have it:  Time, Money, Relationships.  Sure there is some overlap and definitely they are related. Maybe someone would add a different category but those are the three that I see. The three-legged stool of the Christian life.  It’s not always that easy.  Remove one, and it falls down. Make one longer or shorter and it is off balance.  Have all three just the right lengths and you sit nicely under Jesus.