In life we are constantly bombarded with things that seek to grab our attention either to take us in the right direction of our higher purpose or to make us make detours that take us away from purpose. We all have principles we live by that highlights for us the right and wrong. Each time we do right we are happier and doing wrong tend to cause us regrets, disappointments and generally just zaps the joy from us.
The dictionary defines principles as the guiding sense of the requirements and obligations of right conduct. Your principles could be derived from your religious beliefs, family ethics, cultural beliefs or your personal beliefs. As people who are striving each day to be the best of us we don’t necessarily set out to do the wrong things or as a Christian I’ll say we don’t necessarily set out to sin or take detours. Some how life happens and before we could catch our next breath we find ourselves doing the exact things we swore we wouldn’t do. If we are being honest some of the choices that lead us down the wrong path or cause us to sin are not things that others did to us but choices we made because we couldn’t say no to our senses. Sometime we are our own worst enemies we know the things that trip us or that are not good for us but we hang around such things only to play the blame game when we get hurt. God loves us but He hates sin and in order to align with His purpose for our lives we must count on Him and depend on Him to get it right. Having had my own fair share of detours in life and learnt from my mistakes. Below are some of the ways to keep from going in the wrong direction. The list isn’t exhaustive and this should only help as a guide and included to some of your own personal list of what works to safe you from going in the wrong direction that don’t serve your purpose.
i) Stay connected to your source: The source of a thing is its sustainer (anon). A fish will not do well outside of water so how do I expect that I will navigate life successfully, live out my true potential and say no to sin without my source (God).To stay connected to Him means building my relationship with Him daily through prayers and the study of the word. When you stay connected with your source and you are working daily on the relationship by way of studying the bible you are opening yourself to receiving direction and instruction on how to stay in the right lane. The word of God is filled with all what is expected of our lives and how we can do right but when we don’t study it we won’t know how well to respond when life presents us with choices that is bound to sway us in the wrong direction. Through Prayers we are communicating with God how we feel and we are swapping our weakness for His strength. We pray to align ourselves to Him so that we can be quick to discern and get the courage we need to face life in His will.When you pray you are inviting the enabler to help you live out the godly principles you have learnt and forgive where you may have goofed in the past.
ii) Have the right people in your circle: I’m not one who blame others because I believe everyone is capable of choosing their action at any given time. But I believe if we hang around people who don’t helps us grow then we may be in company of those that are bringing us down. Because nothing stays on the same plain. It’s either they are adding to you and you are adding to them or y’all are just not helping each other. They say evil communication corrupts good manners and the bible clearly states a company of fools will be destroyed. So if I’m bent on living right and fulfilling purpose then I can’t just let anyone hang around who isn’t helping me go forward. If all they talk about and all they want to do is the wrong stuff and I continue to hang around them, one day something will give and I will be pushed to subordinate my values to the the wrong that’s placed before my eyes. If you know you want to be the light that shines so bright you need to hang around other lights so that you can provoke each other unto good works.So check your circle. Your association determines a great deal how far you will go in life don’t just hang around just anybody for the sake of it.
iii) Have an accountable buddie: You can’t tell everybody everything about your life. There are some people you can trust to hold you down even when you are at your worst. People who won’t tell your secrets at the mountain top who will cover you in prayer when you’ve made your worst fall. Someone you can call when you sense you are about to do something or you’ve done something and who you are sure would knock sense into you. It helps to keep you in check when you have an accountability buddie. These ones are different from your everyday friends. They are people you know want you to do right and to stay on course with keeping to your goals. So be careful while you choose these ones.
iv) Have a time of reflection: Life can get so busy and it becomes important to take time out to reflect in a quiet place. If we let things get too busy we lose the grip on our core and all that keeps us grounded and sane. We feel drained and find ourselves constantly in battles of choices even when those choices atime are no brainers. But because we are tired and worn we start to make blunders and find our life going out of balance and we see our choices taking us down the road we said we were not going to head down. Don’t let your life spiral out of control take time to have your “me” time where you look into your life and tell yourself some good old truths to keep you from straying. Within every 24hrs do a self check where you can see where you’ve neglected things that should be priority and where you could play back your actions.
v) Be mindful of the information you take in: Social media is filled with a whole lot of information. The good, the bad and the ugly. If you are a person who isn’t fighting to go anywhere in life or a person that isn’t ready to be somebody whose life has meaning and glorifies God then you won’t need to sift the information you take in. But if you love God, yourself and want to add value and live a life of meaning in this life then you have to be mindful of what you let yourself eat at life’s information banquet. Go after what inspires greatness in you, what pushes you to be more of the good person you want to be. What comes out of you will be as a result of what you’ve taken in. So if you’ve filled yourself with junk all day you are not strengthened to say no when opposition arises to sway you in an unwholesome direction.
The above list isn’t exhaustive as I pointed out earlier but they are just basics to help us stay in the right path as we pursue our God given purpose for our lives. When we spend time with our source, have the right information, have the right circle of friends, have accountable buddies, take our constant reflective time we are strengthened to act right and take actions that serve our purpose more. Let’s be honest life will throw things at us that will try to sway us from doing all the right things we have made up our mind to do but the choice of whether we win or lose is a matter of where we are anchored.
May we continue in the right path and no matter what happens on our journey may we always remember that we are royalty and we have the responsibility to guide our crown. May our lives always work to give God glory and may we never take the wide road that lead to destruction may we always stay on the narrow path that leads us to life.
I will love to hear from you. Share with me some of the things you do that helps you stay in your lane on PURRPOSE.
THANKS to all who have liked and will like my blog posts and those who have left me comments and followed my blog. You inspire me to stay on PURPOSE.
You win when you don’t QUIT.
Photocred:Kelly Langston images taken off the internet images of “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me” search.
Girls with God 