As we move into the Christmas season, we often find ourselves longing for the days of old when life was simpler, less complicated, and less cluttered. Today we have become caretakers of things and doers of tasks, doing more and more, and enjoying it less and less. Our lives are like gardens overgrown with distractions, activities, and obligations.   We create for ourselves a sense of frustration, constant motion, and dissatisfaction while trying to make it all work. 

How then do we prune back to the simpler things of life? How do we correct it all? Do we throw ourselves into work? Do we stop everything we are doing? Do we ignore our children or our marriage? Or, do we just keep running and running? 

Well, here are three principles for correcting back to that which matters in our lives, thus enabling us to live out of the ìsweet spot of our livesî.

• Correct back to heart
• Correct back to the peace of Christ
• Correct back to healthy relationships

Letís examine the first principle: 

1.      CORRECT BACK TO HEART.

Just as a baseball bat has its ìsweet spotî (that one part of the bat that when hit, sends a baseball flying to its optimum distance with the least amount of effort) so too does our lives. Wouldnít be nice to know where that spot is and how to correct back to it in order to achieve optimum distance with the least amount of effort? In essence, when we are able to correct back to the ìsweet spotî of our lives, we become the best we can be with just the right amount of effort.

ìHe called His disciples to Him and said, ëI assure you, this poor widow has given more than all the others have given.  For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she hasíî (Mark 12:43-44).

Jesus knows the ìsweet spotî in our lives. Jesus was not talking about money here. He spoke not about the task of giving, but about that which carries a much greater value in His eyes. It is something that allowed even the widowís small attempt to have great value. Like an easy swing of a bat that gives optimum distance, her giving gave enormity and value because she did so with all her heart. Thatís why in everything we do, we must correct back to heart. Thatís what Jesus saw in the widow. Though others gave out of abundance, the widow gave even more because she gave with all her heart.

We must be mindful that heart is the first thing that drops out in this push, push world -- the first sign that we are missing the ìsweet spotî in life. The complexity of our lives increase and we find ourselves doing more and more with less and less heart. Thereís overgrowth. Think about it! Soccer practice, after-school activities, volunteering, church, friends, our childrenís friends ñ how much more do we do and how much faster do we run? Our lives are increasingly complex; unnecessarily complex because of our ìgardenî is overgrown with activity. Remember the parable of the Sower and the Seed. Sowing among thorns chokes out the fruitfulness. The thorns in our lives create its complexity ñ clutter, possessions, things, and tasks. Weíre putting in a lot of effort to keep it all going, but we have lost our heart for doing it. We do ministry without heart. We are married without heart. We begin to parent without heart. We have no time to do our devotions. We just keep going. We have no time to just sit quietly before the Shepherd of our souls.  Our lives get more and more difficult, and less and less fruitful.

So what do we do? We stop! You may ask, ìBut, what if Iím working a job I donít love?î Well, learn to love your job. It may not be the job of your future, but it is the job of your ìnow.î In other words, correct back to heart now because if you cannot be faithful in what God has given you in your job now, how can he give you the job of your dreams later on? God sees and so will we as well others recognize just what the heart of our devotion is to the Lord. Thatís why when our lives are overgrown with thorns and choking our hearts, itís definitely time to prune back.

That is why we stress to be diligent with doing devotions and donít give up that time before the Lord. Start by pruning away activities. Give stuff away. Dial back to the essence of who we are and what we should be in the sight of God. The Lord tells us, ìEven if it seems like a little thing, I will tell all the disciples of heaven to stop because you are doing this with all your heart.î

ìBeloved, if our heart condemn us not, than have we confidence toward God.  And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sightî  (1 John 3:21-22 KJV).

Discussion:

1.      Think about your life years ago?  How much of your life has changed?  Has it all been change for the best?

2.      In this season of Christmas, are you living out of your heart?  Do you need to stop and spend time with the Lord?  How do you begin to do so? 

So first we learn that we must correct back to heart in order to live out of the sweet spot of our lives. The second principle that will also help us is toÖ

2.  CORRECT BACK TO THE PEACE OF CHRIST.

ìAnd let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.  For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace.  And always be thankfulî (Colossians 3:15).

Let the peace that comes from Christ RULE in our lives. The Greek word for ìruleî translates into the word ìumpire.î The peace of Christ is therefore, the umpire in our lives. God is a referee that calls ìfairî or ìfoulî on our actions, our words, and our decisions. What does that mean? Well if we donít have the peace of Christ we wonít be able to hear whether or not God is calling ìfoul and out-of-boundsî.

Therefore, learn to correct back to the peace of Christ because then we are working hand-in-hand with that part of our souls that is most sensitive to Godís instructions: our conscience. It is our conscience that receives Godís call. So when we say to ourselves that something is not right with this activity or that movie or we donít have a peace about something, then we are listening to our conscience. In other words, we are listening to the Lordís instructions.

DISCUSSION:

1. On a scale of 1-10, how would you measure your peace quotient (PQ)? 
2. What does the peace of Christ look like and feel like in our lives?  What Biblical references can help us identify it?

So make friends with your conscience. Hear its voice and learn to listen to your conscience. And as we learn to correct back to heart and to the peace of Christ, we must also learn the last principle to living out of the sweet spot of our lives. That is toÖ

3.  CORRECT BACK TO HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS.

ìBut the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faithî (1 Timothy 1:5).

In this verse, Paul tells Timothy the secret for living from the ìsweet spotî of his life.  Paul tells Timothy that the goal of everything we are learn in church, devotions, and in readings is to achieve ìlove from a pure heart.î In other words, correcting back to heart. The goal of our instruction is also ìa good conscienceî or correcting back to the peace of Christ. And, the final goal of our instruction is ìa sincere faith,î not just in our spiritual lives, but also in relationships here on earth. If we cannot apply these principles, we may learn and learn and learn, yet our lives will still end in tragedy. Then Godís instructions become meaningless because we cannot apply these principles.

The sincerity of our faith will be revealed in our relationships. Unfortunately, keeping relationships health is often the toughest calibration of all to make. ìIf therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offeringî (Matthew 5:23-24). 

This is more than a call to keep relationships healthy; it requires us to not tolerate relationships we know are unhealthy. Just do not tolerate them! Stop! The Bible says in Proverbs 6: ìIf weíve been caught in the snare of our words and weíve broken a relationship, donít give sleep to our eyes nor slumber to our eyelids. Like a gazelle, deliver yourselves from the hunterís trap. And like a bird from the snare, go and importune our neighbor.î In other words, get the relationship right.

Ask yourself, ìAm I doing everything that I do with my heart? Can I correct my heart?î  Moreover, ìIs the peace of God ruling in my life? Am I allowing Him to call ìfair ballî or ìfoul ball? Finally, ìHow are my relationships?î

Make sure relationships are healthy at every turn. Donít tolerate broken relationships because they will only become more infected if left alone. In reality, the best thing to do is to forgive quickly. If we dwell on perceived hurts, nursing them and allowing them to continue, they will damage us and make us bitter. We will miss living out of the ìsweet spotî of our lives over and over again. So just forgive and let it go. Move on. Only then will we correct back to living out of the ìsweet spotî in our lives, thus finding the best in our lives with the least amount of effort.

So, the greatest gift of all this Christmas season is to give to others the gift of a clean slate.  And, the greatest gift we can give ourselves this season is to live out of the ìsweet spotî in our lives, correcting back to heart, living with the peace of Christ and letting it guide our actions, and enjoying healthy relationships.

DISCUSSSION:

1. Is there anyone you need to forgive?  Can you do it right now?  If not now, when?
2. What is the Biblical basis for resolving conflict?
3. How will todayís lesson guide you to make changes in your life? 
4. Write a prayer asking God to help you make those changes.

Mahalo to one of our faithful volunteer writers who writes with all her heart!  Great job!