Day 13 – You and the World: Vision Planning

“And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Matthew 22:39

The world deserves the best you

Avery famous verse of the Bible, most Christians know that Jesus teaches us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:39). Our neighbour is not just the person living next door to us, but everyone we encounter in our everyday life, so work colleagues, the postman, fellow gym or fitness class goers etc. as well. 
As we covered on Day 9, we must put God first, then ourselves before all others. Not in a selfish way, rather so that you can be the best version of yourself when you go out into the world. The world deserves and desperately needs the best you.

We need to share and defend our faith

The Bible makes it clear that we are to share and defend our faith. To share the Gospel with those who have never heard it the right way, if at all. We are also to defend it with gentleness when we are opposed, as 2 Timothy 2:24 reminds us. It isn’t about Bible-bashing people, love is the first thing we are commanded to do. But as we love, when people ask us why we are different, this gives us an opportunity to share the difference Jesus has made in our lives. 

We Are Stewards of the Earth

By ‘the World’ we don’t only mean people, we also mean the physical world around us. In Genesis God gave the earth to Adam and Eve to “work it and keep it”, meaning we should cultivate, crop and also care for it. As their heirs, we also have a mandate to look after our physical world – both animals, plants and our environment. With global warming on the rise, it is clear we are not being good stewards of what God has entrusted us with. But we can make a difference if we each do our part. 

A Prayer To Get You Started

Heavenly Father, thank you for my neighbours. As you have called me to love them, please show me how I can do that practically. Give me the courage to share the Gospel with them when they ask for the reason for my hope. Help me to do better looking after the environment. This world is yours and I want to care for it well.

In Jesus’ Name I pray,

Amen.

Food For Thought

What do we need to consider when making plans related to the World? Here are some options:

• Ministration: making the Gospel known through preaching, apologetics (defending the faith) and/or fighting for just causes (e.g. ending sex trafficking and modern day slavery)
• Representation: making God known through our day to day life by being Christ-like e.g. excellence and kindness at work; friendliness with neighbours
• Donation: giving to those in need of our time, energy and/or money
• Conservation: doing our part to keep the physical world and environment in a good state e.g. recycling, reducing our carbon footprint, eating less meat, standing up against animal cruelty 

In Summary

God has commanded us to love our neighbours and that includes everyone we interact with regularly.
We are also called to share the Gospel with the World and defend our faith when requires. Finally, the World also includes the physical environment, animals and plants and we should care for them too. We can do all this by remembering where we can minister through loving and sharing the Gospel, represent God, donate generously and conserve diligently.

Questions to ask yourself

• • 1. Who are your neighbours? How can you be more loving towards them?
    2. With whom can you share the Gospel? 
    3. What is the best way you can represent God in your everyday life?
    4. How and where can you donate time, money and/or energy?
    5. What can you do to help the environment?
       

SMART Goal Setting

Write one or more SMART goals that will help you realise God’s vision for this domain. Remember, a SMART goal is one that is:

S pecific: so you have something to focus on. 

M easurable: success is a measure of “how much” “how many” or “when” a goal is reached

A chievable: you can only reach a goal if it is realistic and success is possible. 

R elevant: the goal needs to be worth pursuing so you feel encouraged to accomplish it.

T ime bound: you can’t measure or achieve success if there is no end point

Further Reading

Luke 10:25-37 is the parable of the Good Samaritan
Proverbs 12:10 shows that righteous people are compassionate with animals
2 Timothy 2:24 tells us how to defend our faith

Up Next

Tomorrow we review You and the World: Sustainable success.

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