In other words, who or what am I going to live for? That's the starting point. Obviously there are a lot of options. You can center your life around a career. You can center your life around a sport. You can center your life around a hobby. You can center your life around making money. You can center your life around who’s my next date. You can center your life around having fun.
All of these things – there’s nothing wrong with any of these things. They’re all fine and good but they all make a lousy center for your life. They’re not strong enough, they’re not solid enough, they’re not secure enough to be the center of your life. You need something at the center of your life that is absolutely unchanging, that can never be taken away from you. If it can you will lose your security. You will always be under stress. You need something that is unchanging and secure.
The Bible tells us in Psalm 62:10 “If your wealth increases don’t make it the center of your life.” Why should I not make wealth or the acquisition of wealth the center of my life? A couple of reasons:
You can lose it all. There are hundreds of ways you could lose it all, instantly, overnight. If you build your life around money then you’ll constantly be tense because you’ve got to keep it, hold on to it and what if you lose it?
When you become a Christian, a believer, a follower of Jesus Christ, the center of your life changes. Being a Christian means Jesus Christ is at the center of your life. A lot of people imagine their life as a pie with different pieces representing different segments of their life. So you’ve got a work segment of your life, you’ve got a retirement segment and you’ve got a financial segment, you’ve got a sexuality segment and you’ve got other relationships, a social life, and then, over here we’ve got Jesus as a piece of the pie.
[callout]No. Jesus is not a piece of the pie. Jesus is the filling. He is the whole pie. And He wants to influence every segment – the financial segment, the sexual segment, the relational segment, the goals and ambitions and dreams segment, your career. He is the glue that holds it all together. He is the pie if you’re a believer. He’s not just a segment. He’s at the core.[/callout]
One of the ways you know that Jesus is at the center of your life is you worry less. Worry is a sign that something has replaced Jesus Christ at the center of your life. So the number one stress reliever is to put Jesus Christ at the center of your life.
How do you know when Jesus Christ is at the center of your life? How do you know what’s at the center of your life? It’s real obvious. What do you think about most? Whatever you think about most in life is at the center of your life. Stock market? Grandchildren? Where am I going to get the next date on Friday night? Whatever you think about the most is at the center of your life and it is your god and if you want the stress to lower you need to put God back at the center of your life.
