As you arch over a chess board in silence, and your opponent makes a crushing move, your gameplay changes dramatically. You must now react, and that gives your opponent the advantage. By putting you into a defensive mode he is safe from attack.
It is the same in life, church, occupation, family, friends when we become reactive rather than proactive, we settle for less than the best.
Some Examples
Jesus was proactive.
He took the lead, never deviating from His mission.
He preached, taught, healed, worked, loved, lived and died on His own terms, and He was (and is) the most influential being to walk the face of the earth.
You think of the truly significant people out there. Whether you agree with their ideology or not, they all have one thing in common, this intensely proactive stance.
- Nelson Mandela – Despite intense opposition, a government that did not even recognise him as a citizen and a 27 year prison sentence, he proactively worked to bring about large-scale change in the country, eventually becoming the first black president of South Africa. More info…
- George Müller – Opened a string of orphanages and schools, preaching regularly throughout his life. He traveled 200,000 miles before air travel and without asking anyone for a single cent raised almost £1.4 Million. If we convert that to todays money, that is over $163,000,000. He cared for the orphans and educated them so well that local mines and factories found it difficult to obtain workers because most of the orphans went on to skilled trades or professional careers. Read More…
- Andrew Carnegie – Started life in a poor family and got a job as a telegrapher, but before long invested in railways, became a bond salesman and ultimately founded the Carnegie Steel Company which sold for the equivalent of $13.6 billion. Carnegie then spent the rest of his life in philanthropic endeavours which he believed to be the goal of life. Read More…
A proactive life does not necessarily mean you will be famous to the world, but it does mean that you have used the great gift that God has given you, called ‘Free Will’ and it is only by a right action of the will that we can live a life of relevance and purpose.
Today, I want to challenge you to take a proactive approach to three things.
Your spiritual life
If you do not take initiative and spend time with Jesus you are bound for a constant lukewarm experience.
Reactive Christianity is when we don’t pay God much attention until our life gets messy. We then get close enough to stop the pain but soon drift out again.
Then we start the cycle over.
Be proactive. Decide on the relationship you want with Jesus and be proactive about achieving it. It will sustain you at all times, both good and bad.
Your family
Our first mission field must be our families. Being reactive will mean you only react to situations rather than creating them. It takes effort to have a good family. You must create the beautiful home atmosphere intentionally.
Define family time. Define acceptable conduct. Define family worship- not as a dictator but with great love and intentionality.
Your work
It does not matter if you work for a boss or you own your own business, this principle always applies.
If you examine the most outstanding employees in any business, they are proactive, they don’t wait for the environment to change, they become an agent of change and the company is better for it.
If you examine the best business owners you will find they are proactive, they do don’t set their course by their critics or their pain points. Once they identify a good course they take action until the goal is reached.
The rubber meets the road
Romans 12:2 says
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Our minds must be transformed if we are going to live the abundant, proactive life God wants us to live. This can only happen by the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. Accept it anew today and chart your new course!
before you even mentioned the Free Will line this line made me think ahhh that sounds like freedom, “…lived and died on His own terms,” Now to quiet the voice of fear and live by my convictions.