Feeling Complacent?

You may or may not know that I attended a Christian university my last 2 years of college. My main motive for going to this particular school was to get into the education program - one that is outstanding in preparing young teachers for the classroom.

Part of the requirements at this university were to go to chapel and to take a certain number of Bible classes. These two mandatory requirements enlightened me in way I never though possible and are two of my favorite memories.

One of the classes I decided to take was Romans. It was a semester long course and I never thought it would end. :) I thought I knew all there could be to know about this book from the Bible when it did, but this past Sunday, I rediscovered that two different teachers can teach you the exact same material and you'll get at least two completely different lessons out of it.

Sunday's lesson was entitled "Steps to Fight Complacency" and I was not prepared for it to capture my full attention.

1. God must be prominent in all things
2. Form appropriate relationships
3. Have a servants attitude
4. Become risk takers
5. Show hospitality
6. Hard work
7. Compassion
8. Discernment


Become Risk Takers - As we get older, we seem to become more set in our ways. I don't think anyone actually makes a decision to be that way, we just become that way through the years in our thinking, our thoughts, our actions, and our words. "Taking risks is something that those generation Y kids do." On the contrary, though, I believe that if we all took a risk once a week/month we would feel younger than before and would be on the way to getting ourselves out of that gutter of circumstance or comfort. Risks do not have to be big; they just have to be something that you wouldn't normally do: like for me going to a movie alone was something I was always afraid to do; now, after going, it is a very therapeutic thing for me to see a movie alone. Me going didn't necessarily change the world, but going helped me to change my perspective of myself and my fears.

Many of these ideas I've seen or heard before. The one that stood out to me the most, on this day, was #6 - Hard Work. I found it ironic that it was listed as we just watched The Ultimate Gift on Saturday night. The first lesson in the movie is "Hard Work" and probably the most rewarding. Once we work hard for something we realize that the real reward is actually doing that particular task: painting a room, keeping a friendship, building a house, or finishing that year of school. Everything takes hard work if you're really trying - maintaining a relationship, working with customers, teaching, relating to an annoying family member, even changing our own habits or thoughts. I have encountered a nameless person who often uses the excuse "I'm still a work in progress" as an excuse for ill-word choices, immature actions, and avoidance of change. After thinking about this for a while, I came up with a new quote to add to my "Tisha's Quotes to Live By": "Being a "work in progress" doesn't mean you settle on who you are. It means that you're actually working on being a first-rate version of yourself."

Happy 2008!