Life lived Intentionally

Intentional: Done on purpose. Calculated.

Have you ever heard some of your friends say, “I live life day by day” or “all this crazy stuff just keeps coming out of no where”. Then in your mind you are thinking, “That kind of stuff is always happening to them. How are you not prepared?”

I have been having a lot of thought around things that happen in my life. How they happen and how much I want to be ready for instead of being blind sided. This thought process has taken me into many different avenues that I wanted to share and write down for myself.

I’ll start with my prayer life since it is when I began thinking about being intentional. Prayer for me is something I usually do as a reaction to life instead of prayer as a precursor. During a fast that I went on last week. I had it timed out when I would pray and it had me thinking to myself, “If I only pray because it is the time to. I AM DOING IT ALL WRONG.” Another excellent example is praying over food. If you only pray over food because “it is the thing to do”, then you missed it. Prayer should be intentional, it should be in reverence, and it also should be done with expectation.

Now for my finances. Living pay check to pay check is one of the most dangerous ways to live. Coming from poverty and now on the cusp of lower middle class. I’m at the point of can’t get medical or food stamps, but at the same time spending my last dime on hospital bills and food. This last year my wife and I sat down and got on a real budget. I made a spreadsheet on google docs and we have been following it as best as possible. We have a number for eating out, clothes, beauty, vacation, investments, and so on as the month allows. When you intentionally have plans for your money and know where each dollar is going you are setting yourself up for success. Even when a surprise like a broken phone comes along you can know that the $80 you would usually spend on a game or nails has to be held off till next month. I guarantee that by being intentional with your finances, it will take away 50% of your stresses and possible fights with spouse or significant others. I will be sharing a blank version of our budget spreadsheet later on so you can use it for yourself.
Now for the finale. Being intentional with your life and pursuits. This can be difficult, but I promise that the moment you get serious with a commitment of intentionality. Your life will change and your countenance will as well. It’s incredible what one win in life will do for you especially if it is planned and calculated. It’s dangerous to your money and life going to college without a plan for what career you want. A business fails when it has no goals or rules that it stands by at all times. Your life will be miserable if you do not have a purpose that you are in ruthless pursuit of.

Living life intentionally is only tough because doing nothing is easy. Here are some tips for living an intentional life.

1. Write down goals. 1 year goals. (Yes, I said write them down). Then do everything that you have to do to make it happen. Real goals are like breaths, you should not be able to live without it happening.
2. Talk to friends and family. This may sound easy, but intentionally being a good friend or family member is important.
3. Be friendly & polite to everyone that you meet. You may never know who you run into and the possibility of needing their help. Who wants to help a rude or snooty person?
4. Pray with boldness and expectation. When you pray over your food, expect it to be harm free and delicious. When you pray for sickness, health, travels, or whatever. Expect that God will really make it happen. May I even be bold enough to say that empty prayers, that sound like a good thing to do at the moment, are absolutely worthless and a waste of time.
5. Give intentionally. This is in all ways that you give. Whether it be money, time, or attention. It needs to be intentional. Do not give your money to charity, church, friends, family, or anything unless it brings you joy. Giving money that you expect something out of is an investment, not a gift. When you give your time, don’t give it unless it is planned out. Your time is precious and is limited. When you give your attention, do it intentionally. Attention to your wife, brother, and friends shows your character and love for them. Fake friendships, distant family, and open marriages always lead to disasters.

Serious Commitments

As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. Joshua 24:15. There are many times in life and in your Christian walk that you will be obligated to your commitments. Also, these commitments tend to show your character. Since our recent move to the area, Tiana and I have been blessed to find a Jesus centered church that believes in a relationship with Christ more than the religious traditions. While I am on the topic of traditions, I want to be very clear that there are times that traditions are necessary. For example: breaking of bread, prayer and worship, church service, and many other times when gathering together as a community or group. My belief is when you are truly saved or “accept Jesus into your heart” you are making a commitment with Jesus. You are not merely having an experience with him as you would if you heard a great speaker and wanted to change your ways. It is a daily walk and giving of your life for something that is outside of yourself. When I was saved it was because I found out that Jesus was someone who I could have real relation with instead of just the knowledge of some higher being that hated when I was having sex outside of marriage or disrespecting the elderly. This was a profound moment in my life and changed it entirely. Once I made that commitment to be the son of God, a child of the light, Jesus disciple, I began to really see the world for what it was. I also found out the commitments that God had for my life and his intentions for it.

I find that people tend to not hold true to their commitments. Some intentional and some not so intentional. It could be the little things like forgetting to grab toilet paper on the way home from work. Then to big things like cheating on a spouse. We as Christians on the other hand are held to our commitments. We believe that our commitments to our friends, family, and neighbors are sacred. When we fail to hold firm to them, we are actually breaking a deal with God, which is unacceptable.

Now here are 6 tips that I have began to use and I think can be a general rule of thumb for everyone.
1. When you make a commitment or promise, keep it.
2. Think of commitments to someone as a make or break in your relationship.
3. Commitments that are followed through show great character.
4. God is pleased when we step up and hold to our commitments, because so few actually do.
5. Learn to say NO. Do not get yourself caught up in multiple commitments that over lap each other. You are bound to stumble.
6. Be ready for spiritual attacks. Without fail, something will try to come between you and a commitment. BE READY

Tiana and I have made a commitment to become leaders in our church. Before accepting the responsibility, we decided that we would make sure that those days were available. This means placing it on our calendars, missing birthdays, telling our bosses, and not committing to anything else until this time period has expired. It may sound so simple and easy, but yet I tend to think that it took a lot of work and effort to accomplish those few task. We believe that our commitment to leadership will in fact change lives. We also believe that there are perks to being in God’s will. God’s will tends to be hard because it is not always our favorite thing to do, but it is always worth it.