Stop Starting Over: What to Quit and What to Keep
And I don't know if you've ever felt this before, but sometimes when people look at you and say something, and keep in mind she wasn't even actually looking at me from her perspective, it's like every syllable has this pounding drum…
Begin with what is true
And I don't know if you've ever felt this before, but sometimes when people look at you and say something, and keep in mind she wasn't even actually looking at me from her perspective, it's like every syllable has this pounding drum sound. I instantly knew what she was talking about and why it mattered to me, even if she didn't.
There are too many things in my life that I run out of steam for, I lose focus, and I quit those things only to return to them again and start over later.
See God more clearly
That's why you keep coming back to it, whether it's Bible reading or worship services or losing some weight, eating better, whatever it is. Except every time you come back after a long layoff, you have to kind of start over again.
If you will stop starting over things that matter, you won't be using extra energy to re-accomplish the same things over and over again.
Let faith shape the response
People lose focus, next year they start again, and they end up with a bunch of Bible reading programs conveniently located under the refrigerator because by March they pulled the magnet off and let it fall beneath, only to put up a new one next year. If Bible reading is something you keep coming back to, stop starting over.
You keep putting in good effort, but it's so spread out that you're not getting any of the real benefits of it, and you never get to see where it's intended to go.
Live it today
There have been people working on their marriage for 20 years who keep driving in the same nail, maybe halfway in, and then ignore it until it shimmies loose again, knock it back in, let it shimmy loose again. No boards are getting put up on the wall if you can't get past some initial effort.
So when it comes to these relationships that you keep eventually trying to make better, don't stop making them better.
Take the idea with you.
- 01Where does the central idea of “Stop Starting Over: What to Quit and What to Keep” show up most clearly in my life right now?
- 02What does this episode call me to believe, stop, start, or handle differently?
- 03What is one specific action I can take today instead of merely agreeing with the idea?
Listen to the original episode
This article was adapted from Stop Starting Over. Continue with the podcast for the original teaching in Kris’s voice.
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