If It Doesn't Challenge You, It Doesn't Change You

The other day at church I was listening to a sermon on God's will. It was a great sermon. It was the kind of sermon that made me feel as if God Himself was speaking directly to me. I had clarity. direction. inspiration. passion. I was fired up. I knew exactly what God was calling me to do.

In 2 Peter 1:5-8, it says, "5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

There were two things in this passage that resonated in my heart... "make every EFFORT" and "possess... in INCREASING measure". In this passage, God spells it out for us... if you want to change, if you want your faith to INCREASE, you have to put forth EFFORT!

It seems so logical. So simple. If I want to see changes in my life. My faith, my body, my marriage, my family, my job... I have to put forth the effort. I have to work for it. I have to be challenged. If I am not growing spiritually, if I am not changing physically, if my marriage isn't improving, it is because I am not being challenged enough. I am not working hard enough at it. I am not putting forth the effort required to see real, lasting change.

I think I have been living under this false notion that prayer, while powerful and effective, is the only weapon I need in my arsenal. As if I can simply pray away every problem that I encounter without feeling the need to put forth any additional effort. It's like praying for God to dig me a hole while I sit and wait patiently beside a shovel. It is plain and simple laziness.

As this realization flooded over me, I immediately began thinking of how I could practically apply this new found knowledge to my life. How could I challenge myself in a way that would yield true, lasting change? I decided to challenge myself in 5 different areas of my life: my faith, my marriage, my children, my finances and my health. Here is what I came up with...

My Faith: I am challenging myself to pray for a specific person/thing each day of the week. I set a schedule so that on Mondays I pray for my parents, my brother, my nephew and my cousin. On Tuesday I pray for my husband, my marriage and my children. Wednesday, for my small group girls, for our youth ministry and for our church and its leaders. Thursday I pray for my friends, the women that I am closest to and their marriages and families. And on Fridays I pray for my mentor and for the young woman that I am mentoring. I made a similar "Day of the Week" challenge regarding how I read my Bible as well.

My Marriage: I am challenging myself to serve and love my husband in the ways in which he needs it most. Through kind, encouraging words and sex. That is all he needs. He couldn't care less if the laundry is folded and the beds are made. He wants verbal affirmation and sex. That's it.

My Children: I have challenged myself to spend intentional time with each of my children everyday. Not just playing, but really loving them as they need to be loved. Teaching them and listening to them and talking with them as well as playing with them.

My Finances: I have challenged myself to spend no more than $150 cash at the grocery store each week. That is all I bring and therefore all I can spend. That is for food, diapers, dog food, paper towels and everything else that we need. I also started a weekly savings plan in which I deposit $1 into a savings account for whatever week of the year it is. So the first week of the year I deposit $1, the second week, $2 and so on until the last week of the year when I deposit $52 and then have saved over $1300!

My Health: I have challenged myself to exercise 6 days a week, to drink nothing but water all day long (except for one glass of tea with lunch), and to consume something green (mint chocolate chip ice cream excluded) everyday.

I am now a couple of weeks into these challenges and let me tell you, it has not been easy. In fact, it has been really difficult. Last weeks sermon was exactly what I needed in order to inspire me and assure me that I can do this. God never intended for my life to be easy. Marriage, faith, parenting, weight-loss, budgeting... these are not easy things. They all require effort. LOTS of effort. The only way to keep my marriage healthy, my kids on track, my faith fueled, my weight and waistline decreasing and my bank account above double digits is with EFFORT. And if my efforts do not continue, than I cease to change and I become unproductive, just like scripture says.

It has proven true in every single area of my life... if it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you! I want to change. I want to do better, to look better, to feel better, to be better. So I will continue to put forth the effort. I will continue to face and embrace these challenges, because if I am not being challenged, I am not being changed.