
Spiritual Training Cycle: Examination (wk. 11/13)
These four words are why you feel stuck. These four words are why you’re questioning life. These four words are the catalyst to transform you into a more purposeful, more satisfied person. Someone who handles stress without fear or anxiety. The four words in this one question will change your life forever – How do you know?
The highest performing, most optimized people on the planet LOVE this question. Why? Because it gives them the freedom to look beyond. It gives them the power to take control of their life no matter the circumstances. I’ve been using this question for over a decade to deepen my relationship with God and to create a life better than I could have asked or imagined. Here’s how you can harness the power of “how do you know.”
But before I share that with you, you need to understand a little about the “how do you know” framework. It all originates from your idea of what good truly looks like in your life. Then you use this framework to imagine a better, more improved version of whatever your good is, which frees you up to pursue something even greater. Here’s how it works.
Take your relationship with God. Is it good? For some of you, the answer is no. But how do you know it’s not good? Maybe it’s because the things you’ve tried to do to get close to God didn’t get you there. Maybe you expected those things, like prayer of Bible reading, to solve your problems. But they didn’t. And now you’re stuck trying to decide if a relationship with God is even necessary. The answer is yes by the way! But the only way you’ll get there is to reframe your view of a good relationship with God.
A good relationship with God starts with grace. God extends an offer of grace to us every day. That grace allows us to see a relationship with God is based on what He’s done for us, not what we do for Him.
Which means when we pray or read the Bible, we shouldn’t expect God to do something for us in return. That’s simply our way of connecting with Him. But beyond connecting with God, spiritual exercise does produce some other amazing things in our lives, including our ability to extend grace to others.
If you really want to know if your relationship with God is good, just look at how well you love the people in your life. And there’s always room for more love! So, using the “how do you know” framework, you start searching for ways to love even more.
That could mean joining a charitable organization or starting a Bible study in your gym. It could mean going on a mission trip or writing a love letter to your spouse. It could mean celebrating your employees or your co-workers. There are an infinite number of ways to love. When you ask the question, “how do you know,” you remind yourself to go search for new ones.
Once you start a journey of faith in Jesus, you realize there is so much more available in life. As your soul roots itself in who Jesus is and what He has done for you, His love and goodness become more evident in your life. And because God’s goodness is never ending, each day becomes an adventure to discover more good things in your life. To do that, all you need are four simple words – How do you know?
Questions for Reflection:
What does God’s goodness look like in your life?
How do you search for the better things in life?
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