Why Writing It Down Changes What You Do
I would just say, look, I know you're telling me something right now, but just know that I forget a lot of stuff and I may not do it. Or if I did forget something important, or I studied something and the day later couldn't remember…
Notice what happens between people
I would just say, look, I know you're telling me something right now, but just know that I forget a lot of stuff and I may not do it. Or if I did forget something important, or I studied something and the day later couldn't remember anything I'd studied, I would just sort of say, you know what?
But the problem is when you meet people and forget their names, or you agree to do something for someone and then forget to do it, or you study the word of God and don't remember what you studied, after a while, the excuses lead to something more ominous, and that is lack of effort.
Listen beneath the surface
Now I know that the mercies of the Lord and God's grace and patience are incredible, so I'm not saying that He waits to crush me when I forget something. But I am questioning, if I can just be honest with you, how much inactivity can I write off as a poor memory and God wink at it?
Think about things like being at church and seeing a visitor return, and you know what the right thing to do is walk up to them, say their name, express appreciation, ask them to sit with you, whatever, but instead you think I just totally forgot their name and now I'm embarrassed.
Choose a better response
One of the things we do in the journal every morning is we ask beautiful questions, and there's a paragraph section where you write out questions to God. I don't write all my prayers all day long, but I at least write two in that journal every morning.
When I'm writing about asking beautiful questions, and when I'm writing about level three gratitude, I put those in the form of prayer.
Practice it in real life
If you come across something important and you want to make it real and you want to make it last, and you know that God can use it, take a moment and write it down. As always, please consider sharing this with people in your life who you think we can help.
And whatever you do today in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, excel still more.
Take the idea with you.
- 01Where does the central idea of “Why Writing It Down Changes What You Do” 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 Episode 70 · Write It Down. Continue with the podcast for the original teaching in Kris’s voice.
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