Man in the Mirror, Chapter 14 Summary

Priorities: How to Decide What's Important

The constant desire to have still more things and a still better life and the struggle to obtain them imprints many Western faces with worry and even depression, though it is customary to conceal such feelings. Alexander Solzhenitsyn

The Problem
Most men have not settled the issue of what their priorities should be. Among those who do know, too few live according to those priorities.
Perhaps no other time of the week reveals more about us than how we spend Saturday morning. Saturday is like the discretionary income in our paycheck.
How do you spend your Saturdays?
Most men are more task oriented than relationship oriented. Lets look at relationships first, the area where we are usually the weakest.

Biblical Priorities
Our top priority: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" Matthew 22:36,37. The most practical way to demonstrate our love for God is through obedience which includes:
Bible Study
Prayer
Worship
Sharing

The man in the mirror can do nothing better than look intently into the word of God that gives freedom and discover the principles, precepts, and guidelines offered.
Priority number two: "Love your neighbor as yourself" Matthew 22:39. Our spouse, children, and parents should be highest on the list of "neighbors". God thinks so highly of our relationship with our parents that He made it one of the Ten Commandments.

Another priority is rest. Our emphasis is always on doing, but God is interested in our rest.

Work should also be a priority. The purpose of work is to glorify God with the abilities He has given us. This should motivate us to pursue excellence.

A final priority is good works which includes:
Introducing others to Christ.
Helping others learn about and become like Christ.
Caring for the poor and needy.

Link to Newsletter

The March 2009 Marion District United Methodist Men's newsletter is here:

http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/tools/view_newsletter.php?newsletter_id=1409876677

Man in the Mirror, Chapter 13 Summary

Decisions: How to Make the Right Choice

Once -- many years ago -- I thought I had made a wrong decision. Of course, it turned out that I had been right all along. But I was wrong to have thought I was wrong. John Foster Dulles

The Problem
We all do exactly what we decide to do; we are the sum of our decisions.
Virtually all of our problems can be traced to a poor decision -- a decision made by a process that is barely understood.

The Priority/Moral Distinction
Decisions tend to be priority or moral decisions.

Priority decisions are choices made between right and right. The only imperative in making priority decisions is to be wise -- to choose between good, better, and best.
Moral decisions are choices between right and wrong -- there is the morally correct choice and the morally wrong choice.

Biblical Decision-Making
The first principle of effective decision-making: live by the word of God.
The second principle of effective decision-making is not to put God to a test -- don't put yourself in a position that requires a miracle.
The third principle of effective decision-making is always to worship God and serve Him only in your decisions.

Consequences
Every decision has spiritual and financial consequences.