The importance of recognizing your capacity when chasing your desires
Do you push yourself beyond your limits to reach goals, such as success at work? If you feel like your lifestyle is causing a lot of stress and anxiety, you probably need to make some changes. And it’s not just our work. It’s how we view ourselves.
These days, time that is even supposed to be restful and restorative is lost to our constant drive. We spend a lot of time on social media, comparing our lives to the lives of others and carefully cultivating our appearances to make it seem like we’ve got everything under control. Instead, we’re stressing ourselves out for approval and validation from others.
We need to stop pushing ourselves beyond our limits
Let’s be clear about something. It’s not wrong to have desires or push yourself to succeed. It’s normal to have an occasional hard or challenging day. However, when every moment of our lives is dictated by how far we can push ourselves, we all get burned out eventually. We live with stress, anxiety and low levels of spirituality.
The Bible makes it clear that we should live differently:
“Keep company with God,
get in on the best.
Open up before God, keep nothing back;
he’ll do whatever needs to be done:
He’ll validate your life in the clear light of day
and stamp you with approval at high noon.”
Psalm 37:4-6 (MSG)
God knows our attention is limited. And what we give our attention to defines us. If your entire day goes from work to Netflix to social media, then that is what defines your day. Look, some days like this are fine, but we need to slow down and factor in more time for rest and enriching our spiritual lives.
We need to live within our limits and stop striving for the approval and validation of others. We need to accept that God has already validated us and wants us to hold nothing back from Him, not to keep distracting ourselves with other things.
Stop saying yes to something when you don’t have time. Stop pursuing things that hurt your marriage or other relationships because you have convinced yourself they’re more important. Don’t worry too much about what others think about you. Keep your desires in check and operate within your limits.
Centerpoint Church is ready to walk with you on your faith journey
At Centerpoint, our community believes in purpose and passion, and we would love to walk with you on your journey in finding yours. We are currently going through a new sermon series titled “To Hell With Normal.” It’s all about redefining what we consider normal in life as we seek to make our lives more like the way Jesus would have them to be.
Do you want to grow in your faith or are you simply curious about who this Jesus guy is? You’re not alone. We encourage you to listen to our series online and welcome you to come to one of our Sunday morning services in Valrico, Florida.