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The bible speaks greatly of time, wisdom and integrity and I believe this goes to show also how being punctual is very important as we live our lives. The bible says there is a season for everything.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” –Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (ESV)
This speaks greatly of how we should view each season of our lives for their proper timing. I personally believe what Pastor Joey Bonifacio said in our class that we should scale our lives based on the values that we have. Just like what the bible is speaking about the proper seasons, we should live our lives in a way that is in sync with our season.
The bible also speaks of making use of our time well.
“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” – Ephesians 5:15-17 (ESV)
We should not really waste our time on things that doesn’t matter but we should have wisdom in “scaling our values” that we may make the most out of our limited time. The bible commands us to have wisdom and the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. Even as we live our lives and make use of our time wisely, our fear of the Lord will predetermine that. How we view things that please God will set course our actions and decisions even with how we make use of our time.
Proverbs 12:24 says, “Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.” (NIV)
This speaks of how being lazy brings trouble in our lives, that as we continue to become slothful or lazy as we go about our activities, we will just be taken captive with it. Instead of having the rest we want, we end up in slave labor because all the more that we put off things, it gets piled up and we have to face the consequences of our actions sooner or later.
We should take note here the importance of valuing our time . When we have the proper understanding of how limited our time is and how we handle it determine the things we have to face in our future, we would gain that sense of punctuality and holding in to our hearts its importance.
Being punctual also roots from having the integrity of our hearts. Having integrity means that we have that truth and oneness in what we say and do. Having a heart filled with integrity sets us apart from others. It’s being blameless and righteous in everything we do. Integrity pleases God. He called David as a man after his own heart and David was a man who led his people with skilful hands and with integrity of heart. As leaders, we should be able to know that integrity is important. It will make our followers know that we are leaders who can’t just lead them excellently with our skilful hands, but we can also lead them in a way that we are worth following.
“The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.”-Proverbs 11:3 (ESV)
“Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity,”-Titus 2:7 (ESV)
“But you have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in your presence forever.”-Psalms 41:12
“Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than he who is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.”-Proverbs 19:1 (MKJV)
“I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house;”-Psalms 101:2 (ESV)
“Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.”-Proverbs 28:6 (ESV)
“Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered, but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall.”-Proverbs 28:10 (ESV)
God highly values integrity. We should always be reminded of this. As spiritual leaders in our own context, having integrity speaks greatly of us and is one of the things that needs to be seen in us if we want to be trusted by the ones we are leading and even the ones around us. No one would want to follow a man or woman who is double minded and does not portray what he/she is speaking in front, and as the cliché goes—“we should walk that talk”.
As Christians, what separates us from the world is our very relationship with God and if we want our lives to be walking testimony’s of our God’s work we need to understand that we are not of this world anymore. We are of God and we should live according to the very standard that He has set for us—the Bible.
“Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.
At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.”-1 John 2:7-8 (ESV)
“And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”- 1 John 2:17 (ESV)
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”-Romans 12:2
We are living in a world that has made what the media and what is commonly done be the very standard of life. But we should make the very word of God our standard even in being punctual in our commitments. God has called us to be excellent in everything that we do. Excellence is a matter of the heart. Even as we make a commitment to be excellent in practical ways such as being punctual we should take into our hearts, why are we doing this. And we should be doing this to bring glory to God and honor him in what we do.
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I hope you learned something just as I did.
-Anj
P.S.
This one is really long because I was required to make a 3page paper about it. (cringe! )
-Anj
P.S.
This one is really long because I was required to make a 3page paper about it. (cringe! )
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