God calls me to live for Him and Him alone. He calls me to do all things for His glory, not my own. When I stop and think about this truth, I find that there is incredible peace and joy in it. Unfortunately I have not allowed myself to fully experience this peace and joy because I have been focused on myself, rather than my Savior - the audience of One whom I solely should be focused on.
When I look back on any time that I have ever been worried, anxious or nervous it has been because I have been focused on what I want to accomplish. It has also been because I am worried about what others will think about me. Notice, the keywords "I" and "me". I am focused on what I want, and what I want others to think of me. THIS IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF LIVING FOR MY AUDIENCE OF ONE - JESUS CHRIST!
I have allowed society to brainwash me into thinking that in order to do my best, I need to be focused on specific results. As a Christian, I should never measure success by the world's standards, but unfortunately I have allowed myself to be suckered into this.
I want to experience the extreme freedom that comes from living for the audience of Jesus alone. In order to do this, I believe I must do the following:
1. Courageously work my hardest at everything I do.
I must work my hardest without any fear. When you look at characters in the Bible who were successful warriors, they were focused on what God wanted, not what others expected of them. There eyes were locked on the Lord. They courageously served God and followed His instructions. I must be courageous in everything for "God has given us a spirit of courage", and He also calls us to work our hardest in everything, "As working for the Lord, not for men". Courageously work your hardest, for God is honored when we do.
2. Seek excellence in everything I do.
While working my hardest courageously, I must not work hard aimlessly. God is honored when I seek to be excellent in the things he brings my way. After all, the world is watching us. Do you think the world will respect us if we are half-hearted in what we do? God calls us to take the talents he has blessed us with and manifest them - developing them to the greatest extent we possibly can, and relying on His guidance and strength to do so.
3. When it's "game time" find freedom in focusing on The Audience of One
Once I have put in all the preparation to be the best I can be, then I can go out and seek to be excellent courageously. As mentioned above, I can find increased courage and freedom in being focused on God alone. I can seek to perform to glorify Him alone - making that my sole purpose. This way, I am not focused on what I want, and I'm not focused on what others want. I am simply focused on doing my best as an act of worship to the Lord, and doing it in the ways that best honor Him.
If I do find myself nervous, anxious or scared in any way, shape or form, I must examine where these feelings are coming from. Chances are, they are a result of me being focused on results that I personally want, or from a fear of not meeting the expectations of others.
These principles have been most evident for me in my athletic endeavors, specifically with golf. I have so often sabotaged myself from achieving my best results because I have been worried and nervous. There have been countless times where I feel like if I had simply relaxed I would have won tournaments, or at least achieved much better results. In other words, I don't feel like I have achieved my best for God's glory, not just from a results standpoint, but from an attitude standpoint as well. I have been so focused on the results that I want, and being concerned about what others will think of me if I don't achieve them, that it prevents me from doing my best for the One who really matters.
To find freedom and joy in doing your best for God, with Him being your true Audience of One, it is imperative that I focus on Him alone, and not care about what I want, or what anyone else wants. When I am truly focused on God, then all worry and fear should not be present.
Many athletes get their confidence from cockiness. As Christians, our confidence should be found in Christ which is so much more powerful and useful and effective than the cockiness of any human being.
I need to be focused on joyfully and confidently doing my best in the process, and then allow God to take care of the results. Any time I am focused on results, I make it about me, and when I make it about me, that is when fear and anxiety creep in.
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