Priorities: what comes before what? This question can refer to the quantity of time we're willing to expend on an activity, the sequence in which we're willing to perform actions, or the rank we assign to them.
Priorities are similar to values, which are an important component of mission. But mission determines goals, which determine priorities. Since one is continually informing the other, begin the process and spend time praying and thinking so that your accuracy will gradually improve.
A time log reveals what your priorities are. For some people, their highest priority is to do as they please, like a pet dog wandering around in its back yard.
To rank a list, ask "If I could do only one of these things, what would it be?" That becomes item one on a new list. Then look at the remaining items and ask the same question. That becomes item two on the new list. And so on.
Urgency means that an item is "pressing," but we usually define that by how we feel, when a better rule would be to define it by results: does it involve the possibility of significant material loss? Does it involve the trust of others? Dependability (faithfulness) is a feature of God most emphasized in scripture, and it is therefore a most important character trait for a godly person. (Deu.7:6-9; Prov. 20:6).
When you agree to do something, write it down and review it regularly lest you become undependable. If you run into problems, renegotiate the agreement but never just let the task fall. If you have a complete inventory of the things you've agreed to do, you may in good conscience decline someone's new request. But if you don't know what you've agreed to already, you may feel obligated to accede to someone's new request -- further encumbering yourself with more responsibilities than you can fulfil, resulting in failure and disappointment to others.
What stood out to me the most in this lesson was that dependability is an important character trait for a godly person. Often we think of faithfulness and dependability as two separate things. It's the tendency of many Christians to think of faithfulness (as far as a godly trait is concerned) as just being faithful to God, being faithful in Christian service, being faithful in devotions, being faithful in tithes and offerings, etc. But really we need to be sure that we are faithful in all areas of our lives, including secular areas. Even non-Christians value dependability in others. Being a dependable person is important for our Christian testimony to non-believers.
ReplyDeleteThis was one of my favorite lessons of the whole quarter.