Sunday, July 25, 2010

The 4 Fs of Adult Life

by Rev. James Wong
Wisdom comes with age although age does not necessarily mean wisdom. Success is always dependent on the priorities you set in your life. If you do not think about your priorities you are just like a captain in a ship that allows the wind to decide on your destination.

Having goals is just one side of the coin. How you prioritize your goals will decide on the level of your success. A lot of possibilities of success become mere failures because of wrong priority.

Young working adults have many goals such as starting a family, having a good career, saving enough money for a house, having good fun and meaningful friendship, living with clear purpose, continuing education, owning a sport car, going for an annual holiday and etc. But wrong priority will get the person into trouble. If a young man spends all the money he has on an expensive sport car and exotic holidays he will deny himself the opportunity of owning a house. The house comes before the sport car unless he can afford both. Priority helps us to know what is truly important.

What is the right priority? I believe the following priorities should not be mixed up to live a successful and meaningful life. In each of the following areas we need to sow enough to reap the results.

1. Faith
The Greatest Commandment is to love God with all our hearts and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40). We owe our existence to the creator God. It is grace to be alive. Our daily devotion, reading the Bible, attending worship services and serving in ministries are ways to keep ourselves growing strong in our faith and in our relationships with God. “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb 11:6). Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the anchor of our soul.

2. Family
“The man who brings trouble on his family will have nothing at the end” (Proverbs 11:29 TEV). Many families fall apart because of pure neglect or irresponsible dads and mums. The family is the greatest gift that God has given to us and we have the responsibility of spending enough meaningful time with the family members.

3. Finance
Money is a science and also an art. It is irresponsible to say that “I trust God and I don’t need to know anything about money.” “Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.” (Prov 13:11 NLT). We need to grow in our wisdom with money by getting financial education so that we will always be master over our money.

4. Friendship
“… A real friend sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24 NLT). Jesus called his disciples his friends because the time had come for him to relate to them on the same level: he told them everything (John 15:15) he received from God. Lives become meaningful and colorful when we have good friends with whom we can serve and share our lives.

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