Today’s Readings: Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c; Exodus 3:1-15; Matthew 16:21-28; Romans 12:9-21
Paul’s words of advice to the Romans today really struck a chord with me. His words in Romans 12:9 (“Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and in flame”) in particular really hit home. Let me tell you why they affected me so. You see I was raised in a household where my folks communicated to us the importance of making a difference in the world. My father served as a volunteer on the local school board for 20 years and held a variety of position within our church while my mother served on the city’s planning commission and was a leader in church groups like the Women’s Temperance Union & United Methodist Women. So by the time I was 12, I was already volunteering to help with a variety of causes. And this was in the days before community service hours were required by school districts! On the surface, this probably sounds like a good thing. There was just one problem. You see no one ever pulled me aside and talked with me in depth about why we were helping others. I was left to fill in the blank for myself, and so I did. I decided that I would help others in order to make the world a better place. Again, sounds good on the surface. As the years rolled by, however, I realized my answer to the question why wasn’t sufficient. I would try and try to help others, but things often wouldn’t work out. And each time things didn’t unfold the way I thought they should, I would get angry and frustrated. Guess what happened to me by the age of 30? Yep. I burned out. My burn out happened because I let the flame of my commitment die. So how do you follow Paul’s words of advice and keep the flame of your convictions burning? After having a decade to reflect on my own period of burn out I’ve come to an answer. My answer is this: find a better answer than I had as to why you are helping others. And the answer you arrive at can’t be based on external factors (i.e. “I’ll change the structure of systems” or “I’ll change the behavior of others” or “I’ll change the perspective of others”). And why shouldn’t you focus on external factors? Because you can’t control them; and if things fail to go your way, anger, bitterness, and frustration will lead you to the one inevitable location: burn out. By focusing on a deeper reason (i.e. “I’m reaching out to help others in response to the grace that God first gave me”) and keeping your focus internal (i.e. “My acts of kindness and service are ways of deepening my faith and growing in my ability to embody the love and grace of Jesus”) I’ve been able to nearly stamp out the phrase “burn out” from my vocabulary. There was another benefit I reaped from my new awareness. My switch in motivation for helping others (from external to internal) has even given me a tool that I can use to hold myself accountable for my motivations. Whenever I find myself losing energy and passion in an endeavor, I stop and ask myself “Why am I doing this?” Nine times out of ten, I find in those instances that I’m not doing the acts in response to my faith – I’m doing them for other, external reasons. Once I realize this I’m able to step back and let go. Where are you at in terms of living out your faith? Are you overwhelmed and on the verge of burn out, or are you in a place of passion and joy? If you are in a place of burn out, take Paul’s words of advice to heart and find ways to “keep yourself fueled and aflame”. Start by examining your motivations. Once you do that and get your motives in line, you’ll be amazed at how quickly your flame is rekindled. Til next time…
Paul’s words of advice to the Romans today really struck a chord with me. His words in Romans 12:9 (“Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and in flame”) in particular really hit home. Let me tell you why they affected me so. You see I was raised in a household where my folks communicated to us the importance of making a difference in the world. My father served as a volunteer on the local school board for 20 years and held a variety of position within our church while my mother served on the city’s planning commission and was a leader in church groups like the Women’s Temperance Union & United Methodist Women. So by the time I was 12, I was already volunteering to help with a variety of causes. And this was in the days before community service hours were required by school districts! On the surface, this probably sounds like a good thing. There was just one problem. You see no one ever pulled me aside and talked with me in depth about why we were helping others. I was left to fill in the blank for myself, and so I did. I decided that I would help others in order to make the world a better place. Again, sounds good on the surface. As the years rolled by, however, I realized my answer to the question why wasn’t sufficient. I would try and try to help others, but things often wouldn’t work out. And each time things didn’t unfold the way I thought they should, I would get angry and frustrated. Guess what happened to me by the age of 30? Yep. I burned out. My burn out happened because I let the flame of my commitment die. So how do you follow Paul’s words of advice and keep the flame of your convictions burning? After having a decade to reflect on my own period of burn out I’ve come to an answer. My answer is this: find a better answer than I had as to why you are helping others. And the answer you arrive at can’t be based on external factors (i.e. “I’ll change the structure of systems” or “I’ll change the behavior of others” or “I’ll change the perspective of others”). And why shouldn’t you focus on external factors? Because you can’t control them; and if things fail to go your way, anger, bitterness, and frustration will lead you to the one inevitable location: burn out. By focusing on a deeper reason (i.e. “I’m reaching out to help others in response to the grace that God first gave me”) and keeping your focus internal (i.e. “My acts of kindness and service are ways of deepening my faith and growing in my ability to embody the love and grace of Jesus”) I’ve been able to nearly stamp out the phrase “burn out” from my vocabulary. There was another benefit I reaped from my new awareness. My switch in motivation for helping others (from external to internal) has even given me a tool that I can use to hold myself accountable for my motivations. Whenever I find myself losing energy and passion in an endeavor, I stop and ask myself “Why am I doing this?” Nine times out of ten, I find in those instances that I’m not doing the acts in response to my faith – I’m doing them for other, external reasons. Once I realize this I’m able to step back and let go. Where are you at in terms of living out your faith? Are you overwhelmed and on the verge of burn out, or are you in a place of passion and joy? If you are in a place of burn out, take Paul’s words of advice to heart and find ways to “keep yourself fueled and aflame”. Start by examining your motivations. Once you do that and get your motives in line, you’ll be amazed at how quickly your flame is rekindled. Til next time…
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