Am I Really That Focused On Me?

Our one main focus, Controls all of our other focuses.”  As we begin to refocus our live on God we have to begin to look at what are our focuses in life, what is it that drives us?  When we start our day what are we thinking about?  It may not always be front and center but it is always on our mind, what is it that is always on our mind and controls our motivations? It is our one main focus, why is that? Because, our one main focus, Controls all of our other focuses.  The one thing that most people are focused on is themselves, their main focus is them.  They may not even realize it.  It is easy to be focused on you and that maybe your main focus and not even realize it. Here are some questions to ask yourself, when I buy things why I’m buying them? Do I buy them because I need them to live, or because I think it will make me happy?  What are my motivations in what I spend doing in my free time?  These are just some questions to think on.

Do you realize that Christ told those following Him that they should not be focused on themselves but that they should focus on Him.  We read in Matthew 16:24-26 “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?”  Going back to the questions I asked just before this, why do we do the things we do?  Is it out of wanting to please ourselves?  Is our main focus on us and not God?  Remember, our one main focus, controls all of our other focuses.  Do we just want to follow Christ because it makes us feel better about ourselves, but when it comes to Christ asking us to give up something, or go where we don’t want to go, it is a whole other story.  Are we ready to deny ourselves and allow God to tell what we need to focus on? One commentator tells us this; “Self-denial does, however, mean putting God and his kingdom priorities first. This should have a visible impact on the nature of one’s financial commitments and service to church and world and should lead to the rejection of self-centered arrogance and pride. According to Allison and Davies, “Discipleship is a doing of what is right, no matter how irksome the privations, no matter how great the dangers.”^[1]

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^[1] Blomberg, C. (1992). Matthew (Vol. 22, p. 260). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Let’s Not Focus On The Past

I was thinking about focus and what things I have focused on in my life, then I realized something; I realized that “We always have one main focus, all that we do comes from that one main focus.”  For example, if you begin to focus on losing weight, you decide I need to lose X amount of weight this should be my main goal for the next month.  Everything you do comes back to that focus, from what you eat, to how long you worked out, you have discussions with other people about it. It is your main focus.  You may not realize it but whatever your main focus is, it is what you are going to be talking about to those around you.  As we begin this journey of deciding where our focus needs to be, let’s see what our focus should not be on for a minute.  Because we can become focused on things that are not good for us.

The main focus that people focus on that can bring every aspect of their life down is the past, the past can be good or bad.  But if it is our main focus we can never move forward.  We can learn from the past mistake, we can even be hurt or uplifted by past events but we must not fall into the trap of the past being our main focus.  How many of you know that person who main focus is on the past, they always bring it up in conversation, they want you to know how it has held them back or how great some period in their life was.   It is always the same stories the same thing holding them back, if only this hadn’t happened…  Wasn’t it great when… you know who I am talking about, we all have this person they can’t seem to move forward, but it is never their fault.  Paul tells us this about his life in Philippians 3:13-14, “I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,  I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.^”^[1]

What if we begin to shift our focus from the past to the present, what if then we begin to make our main Focus Christ, what if we said I want to be an example to the world around, of Christ and, of God’s love and kindness.  See just before Paul made that statement he talked about his past and how at one time he thought these things to be important; Paul explained how he once thought it was because of his past, his families past, schooling and where he came from that was going to save him.  That he was better because of his past.  When we are focused on the past we become self-absorbed, life becomes all about us, poor me or look at all that I have done.

What happens when we begin to put the past behind and truly move forward in walking with Christ?  “I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God’s law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.  As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead!”^[2]

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^[1]Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 (Php 3:13-14). Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill.

^[2]Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 (Php 3:7-11). Tyndale House: Wheaton, Ill.