The Power of Dedication – Concentrated Focus
We started looking at the ‘Three things that made Apostle Paul Great’. One of them was that he understood the power of dedication; of concentrated effort. By his own admission, Paul tells us right away what exactly he is dedicated to: “separated to the gospel of God… concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord” Romans 1: 1-3.
The discovery of purpose eliminates guess work from the great endeavor of life. Identifying our chief mission on earth eradicates dissipation, and introduces focus into our lives. It defines our path, and guides our feet so that we can walk through life ‘purposefully, worthily and accurately’.
This is exactly what happened to Paul, and reveals the secret behind this great apostle of Jesus Christ. Once he discovered his life assignment, he dedicated himself to it, and to what it would take to fulfill it. In this case, according to Paul, it is the gospel of God, concerning Jesus Christ our Lord.
It is not enough to dedicate ourselves to something definite, it is even more important to be very careful in choosing that to which we become dedicated. You know why? Because we tend to become what we are dedicated to. What we dedicate our time, effort, resources to, defines our personality, shapes our contributions to the world, and determines the ultimate outcome of our life journey. Aristotle was once quoted as saying that, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not act, but a habit”. Yes, I agree with him, we tend to become what occupies us the most.
For Paul, he was clearly dedicated to the gospel of God, concerning Jesus Christ. It defined his person, and shaped his contributions, not only to Christianity, but to humanity in general. If you think of Paul today, what comes to your mind? An apostle of Jesus Christ who taught extensively about Jesus Christ and what he did for us, right? That is right. Because that was exactly what he gave his whole life to accomplishing.
As I end this discussion today, the question we may want to ask ourselves is, ‘Am I dedicated to anything? If so, what is it? Is it anything that I will love myself to be defined by? Is it anything that could bring a positive contribution to my life and those of others?' You see, it’s time to concentrate your effort in the direction of God’s plan for your life. We must always be ready to serve at anytime, but there has to be something or person to whom who are supremely dedicated. Life’s greatest joys are discovered via this path of whole-hearted devotion to another.
We started looking at the ‘Three things that made Apostle Paul Great’. One of them was that he understood the power of dedication; of concentrated effort. By his own admission, Paul tells us right away what exactly he is dedicated to: “separated to the gospel of God… concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord” Romans 1: 1-3.
The discovery of purpose eliminates guess work from the great endeavor of life. Identifying our chief mission on earth eradicates dissipation, and introduces focus into our lives. It defines our path, and guides our feet so that we can walk through life ‘purposefully, worthily and accurately’.
This is exactly what happened to Paul, and reveals the secret behind this great apostle of Jesus Christ. Once he discovered his life assignment, he dedicated himself to it, and to what it would take to fulfill it. In this case, according to Paul, it is the gospel of God, concerning Jesus Christ our Lord.
It is not enough to dedicate ourselves to something definite, it is even more important to be very careful in choosing that to which we become dedicated. You know why? Because we tend to become what we are dedicated to. What we dedicate our time, effort, resources to, defines our personality, shapes our contributions to the world, and determines the ultimate outcome of our life journey. Aristotle was once quoted as saying that, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not act, but a habit”. Yes, I agree with him, we tend to become what occupies us the most.
For Paul, he was clearly dedicated to the gospel of God, concerning Jesus Christ. It defined his person, and shaped his contributions, not only to Christianity, but to humanity in general. If you think of Paul today, what comes to your mind? An apostle of Jesus Christ who taught extensively about Jesus Christ and what he did for us, right? That is right. Because that was exactly what he gave his whole life to accomplishing.
As I end this discussion today, the question we may want to ask ourselves is, ‘Am I dedicated to anything? If so, what is it? Is it anything that I will love myself to be defined by? Is it anything that could bring a positive contribution to my life and those of others?' You see, it’s time to concentrate your effort in the direction of God’s plan for your life. We must always be ready to serve at anytime, but there has to be something or person to whom who are supremely dedicated. Life’s greatest joys are discovered via this path of whole-hearted devotion to another.
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