Maturity

I want to be humble in a way that isn't just really good at faking it, but where I have a true self awareness of who I am in relation to the God we serve.

I want to improve at submitting to authority, and not always thinking my way is right or that I'm untouchable because of what I may have accomplished or experienced.

I want to mature in the unique plan that God has for my life, not spend all my time comparing myself to so and so in an attempt to either boost my ego or make their story into my story.

I want to have character and integrity, to do the little things well even when no one is watching.

Most of all, I want to help empower families and lead folks out of the poverty mindset and into the worth and dignity they possess as the creation of God Almighty. I'm tired of seeing single parent households that can barely pay the bills, feed their kids, do laundry, or find a job.

I'm tired of the way people in those situations fall into depression and believe they are worthless. I'm tired of them getting used to being somebody's project.

I'm tired of living in the poverty mindset.

Let's face it, you can't lead where you haven't been. I believe the church needs more spiritual mothers and fathers who throughout their life have consistently taken steps in faith to follow Jesus no matter what it may have cost them. People who are truly mature in the Lord, confident in their identity in Jesus, humble, compassionate, quick to love in action & truth, submissive to authority, full of character & integrity.

In a word, people who are being sanctified. Looking more like Jesus everyday.

If we want to see true and lasting change, disciples of Jesus being made, broken homes and families restored, and people coming out of poverty, we must allow Jesus to walk us through the process of maturity. If we want to be participants in what the apostle Paul calls "the ministry of reconciliation", if we want to see resurrection happen all over the place, we must be in tune with what God wants to do in & through us.

In this next season of life, I will be working part time at Starbucks and part time as a missionary through Current of Ohio, LoveCanton, and many other entities I am involved with.

I know that God wants to teach me all of the stuff I listed above, and I believe being bi-vocational for a season was the step out of my comfort zone that Jesus was wanting me to take.

So how about you?

What is the next step Jesus is asking you to take?