Hi, I’m Joni and I confess, I have a Type A personality.
Surprise, surprise, right? Yep, I'm the sort of person who never feels that my best is good enough. I remember once, when I was a child – oh, I don’t know, maybe 9 or 10 years old – I was performing in a piano recital, and even though I read the music correctly and got all my notes right, I remember thinking I gave a lousy performance. The same is true with my artwork. You would think I’d cut myself slack given the fact that I paint holding brushes between my teeth, but not so. I’m always setting incredibly high standards for myself and, as a result, more renderings end up in the trashcan than framed on a wall. My friends who know me well tease me about wanting my work to be just right, just “Goldilocks” perfect.
Over the years, I’ve learned to put my Type A tendencies behind me, but every once in a while the ‘overachiever’ in me, deep inside, gets me into trouble — especially in my walk with Jesus. I have known the Lord for many years and have grown in him over the decades, but still, I have occasionally laid awake at night, unable to sleep, thinking, Oh Lord Jesus, am I doing this thing called ‘the Christian life’ right? Am I living a life that pleases – I mean, really pleases – you?! It’s during those mad midnight hours that I worry and wonder, “Is my repentance sincere?” My goodness, there have been times when I have been offering a prayer of repentance and it feel so insincere, I start repenting of my repentance! And other times I may wonder, “Are my motives pure when I worship? Am I only obeying you, Lord, thinking I’ll win Brownie points?!” Before long, my stomach is in knots.
Now, perhaps you identify (and you could be a completely different personality type)! You know how it is -- you long to live a life that pleases God, but self doubt and insecurities keep tripping you up. Or, you may think that pleasing the Lord is a matter of following a lot of rules and regulations, yet you find that a life of only “Do this” and “Do that” leads to more frustration. But you want to know the truth? You want to know what’s at the bottom of this dilemma, even for me? You and I are being held back by sin. Sin in my life and your life that we tend to minimize or make light of – you know: wrongful habits we’ve tried to ‘housebreak’ and make respectable but that keep hampering our growth in Christ? Well, get ready for a change! You are ready to live as Ephesians chapter 5 tells us to when it says, “Live as children of light and find out what pleases the Lord.”
Now, that’s a great objective in life, if ever I’ve heard one. Just find out what pleases the Lord and do it. So what pleases the Lord? Well, worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth; keeping short lists with friends and family and acknowledging when we’ve done wrong; asking for forgiveness; not hogging the spotlight; making Jesus famous through our words and actions; not embarrassing our Father in heaven by saying one thing and doing another; keeping the reputation of our wonderful Savior clean in the eyes of your unsaved friends; giving the Gospel, reading the Word, and witnessing of Christ’s love. If you and I want to live as children of the light, these are just some of the things that please the Lord.
Oh, and one more thing: When we serve the needy, we also please God. And it’s why I want you to go to my radio page today at joniandfriends.org and ask for our Joni and Friends newsletter. It’s filled with opportunities for you to serve people with disabilities in the name of Jesus. Oh, and I have to add one more. Just love Jesus, because nothing pleases the Father more.
© Joni and Friends
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PO Box 3333 Agoura Hills, CA 91376