27:10 'CHECK-IN'

 

Photography by: @kilographyke

I read an interesting quote a while back that stated this; “In 6 months time, you can either be in the same place or a better place. Focus everyday on improving your health, wealth and happiness. It will take time, but you can make it happen.”

As I pondered over the month that has gone by, I decided to do a kind of check-in with myself. Check- ins for me are important, to clarify patterns, habits and behaviors that have either improved and are reflecting a better ‘me’, or have changed and thus exhibited a version of me that has minimal growth. Honestly I can go about thumping my chest about how good I am… but that is not the case today. I think what we perceive as good is humanly relative. But what God says is good, whether or not we accept it as so, is true.

There is something many of us including myself use as a tool to try and make us feel a sense of relief. The statement, “I’m not perfect.” Sometimes though, we misuse it as a weapon to try and defend the pain and damage we inflict on others. Imperfection is not and should not be an excuse for stagnancy and living a life of dangerous cycles. It should be a motivator to get to unlearn the wrong and the bad and if possible cleanse the downright ugly. It is good to let your true self be seen with no guarantee of the outcome. It is even better to evaluate your true self and acknowledge every part of you as it is. It is the best thing to never settle; to never arrive but work at becoming a better version of yourself. Not only in appearance because beauty is fleeting, but in speech, in thought and the habits you engage in.

Photography by: @kilographyke

 A lot of who we are as individuals is dependent on the habits we form in our lifetime. “You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” (John C. Maxwell) Perhaps our imperfections are present, not to show us how incapable we think we are but to help us see, embrace and take on the challenge of becoming better and among the very best who can be emulated. At such a time as this it is important to recognize that “Nations are waiting on you to get down to work and prayerfully yet consistently live up to your assignment on this earth. Your failure to begin today, does not only affect you. It affects generations.” (Anita Chiama)

The way you live your life is not about you, it is about the legacy attached to it. You get to choose daily, what legacy you will live behind by how you handle your imperfections, either as a tool or as a weapon. Take it this way, if your imperfections were to be erased completely while on earth, wouldn’t you actually become extinct? Because the reality is, we all fall short (Romans 3:23). But our fallen nature makes the essence of grace and mercy be rich and true in our lives. The grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9), and mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).

However there is more to just receiving grace and mercy. There is truth available to set you free (John 8:32). There’s a given capacity and help through the presence of the Holy Spirit in you to avoid every kind of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22).  There is the ability to say no to ungodliness (Titus 2:12) and the wisdom that God gives so lavishly to us if we ask for it when in lack (James 1:5). Life was never made to be lived comfortable in our imperfections; we were made to pursue a life greater than them. It may take time, but if your time is used wisely, then you prioritize your betterment by asking this question constantly, “Does this bring me closer to the better man or woman I want to become?”

A new month has dawned on us. One thing I believe is that it is never too late for a fresh start. Neither is it too complicated to retrace your steps and pick up from where you left. God works all things for our good (Romans 8:28). Time you may consider wasted is actually invested in making you who you are today. If you want to be better, “One Day or Day One… you choose.”

I pray the coming month will have a restructuring take place in your life, so that what is to be in the past remains in the past. What God has for you now, will be and come to you; and what He has in store for you, that as promised is great, will be your daily motivation to shed off things, lifestyles, behaviors, patterns and even people that are not worthy of enjoying the benefits that come with becoming a better you. In the words of 1 Thessalonians 5:22-24 (AMP), 

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [that is, separate you from profane and vulgar things, make you pure and whole and undamaged—consecrated to Him—set apart for His purpose]; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete and [be found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful and absolutely trustworthy is He who is calling you [to Himself for your salvation], and He will do it [He will fulfill His call by making you holy, guarding you, watching over you, and protecting you as His own].

©namwano