Pastor John D Jakes

“Oops!” Haven’t we all said that? We say it when we do something poorly or accidentally. We say it when we wish that we could have done something different. It is an exclamation of our mess ups. Have you ever said “oops!” when you did a good thing?

How often does that happen? Does it ever happen? I would love it if accidental goodness followed me everywhere I went, but that is not how it usually works.

No, goodness takes some effort. No, I am not talking about a tremendous amount of effort, but it does take a purposeful attitude on our part. We must “mean to” do what is right for the sake of our fellow man or for God. It is rare for me to do the accidentally Godly thing. (by rare I mean almost never)

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. – 1 Corinthians 10:31

The Apostle Paul is one of those people that talks about being purposeful all the time. He said that he did everything to do these two things: glorify God and introduce people to the Savior, Jesus Christ. Even in the passage above, Paul speaks of doing these two things purposefully. In verse 31 he urges us to glorify God. In verse 33 he declares that he lives, not so people will like him, but so people will come to know Jesus.

Do we do that by instinct, yet? Perhaps I will one day get there in my pursuit of holiness, but for now I need to purposefully pursue holiness before God. I need to live intentionally for Christ because the things I do on autopilot consistently lean toward the flesh and selfishness.

What about you? Have you ever taken up the challenge to live purposefully for Christ? Are you seeking to live for Him daily? Are the things you do each day done purposefully for Jesus?

Something to think about,

Pastor John