Today we are going to look at the value of environment. How can our environment help us to reach the potential that God has for us?
What does your environment look like? What does your house say about you? How about your desk at work or school? Are you surrounded by clutter or clean? It would seem that whatever is in our immediate vicinity helps us to be more effective at what we do...or less. Today, we're going to look at three types of environments that, when handled correctly, bring us closer to our God-potential.
The first is our physical environment. I don't know about you, but I struggle sometimes with clutter. I surround myself with things that I just can't seem to part with. Have you ever come to a point in your life where you just have to simplify? Drag out those big trash bags and just spring clean? What we live in, drive, sleep on, etc can effect our moods in dramatic ways. If they are kept up well, they can bring us peace....but if they aren't... You know what it feels like to sit in a messy house...not knowing where to start...looking at too much stuff (or not enough)... We need to take control of our physical environments if we want to be more effective.
The second is our emotional environment. Are your friends emotional ladders...lifting you up out of the pit of despair? Are your friends draining and exhausting...always looking for what they can get from you (support, cheering up, etc.)? How healthy are you emotionally? Well-adjusted, confident, and positive? Or co-dependent, insecure, and negative? Why is this? Where are your deepest emotional ties? Are they made to people you would like to be more like? Or are they with people who are "getters" and not "givers". We've got to establish emotional stability if we are going to be all who God called us to be.
The final type for today is our spiritual environment. How much time are you spending with God today? When you go to church, what is your motivation? To give or to get? Or both? If we are going to develop spiritually, we've got to immerse ourselves in a spiritual environment where we can grow more like Christ. Yesterday, would you say you took more steps toward Christ or away from Him? What is the spiritual climate like in your home? Are you encouraged to read the Bible? Is your house a home of prayer or luck? Love for God or love for the world? Our spiritual environment is essential to fulfilling our God-potential.
I know I've asked a lot of questions today, but I think we've got to take some environmental inventory once in awhile to see if we are in a healthy one. If we are ever going to be the best "us" we can be...we've got to put ourselves into environments that are physically maintained, emotionally stable, and spiritually sound.
See you tomorrow,
Pastor Brian
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