Who over What

We put a lot of attention on what we do.  What do you for a living? What do you do at church? What do you do for fun?  The emphasis is on activity, tasks, projects, and assignments. As a Type A personality, high D (DISC profile) temperament, this emphasis suits me well ... maybe too well.

God has really challenged me that His emphasis is not on what we do, but who we are and who we are becoming.  His emphasis is on our heart, our character, our integrity ... after all, we are human being not human doings.

• When God picked David to be the King, he rejected the older brothers saying that He doesn't look at outer appearances but at the heart.  How much attention do I put on my heart condition over my hair, face, and body condition?


• When Paul wrote his letters to Timothy he told him to train himself to be godly and to pay attention to his character & teachings carefully.  What am I training for and what gets my attention?


• Paul tells Timothy to simply set an example in 5 areas:  speech, life, love, faith, & purity.  What example am I setting?

The focus here is clear:  who you are is more important than what you do; and ultimately, who you are affects everything about you, including what you do.

I've committed to memorizing this verse in the next few weeks: 

2 Timothy 2:21 (NLT) -- If you keep yourself pure, you will be a utensil God can use for His purpose.  Your life will be clean and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.