Who do I want to be?

I have been talking to God about His perspective on living life.  Often my default in living is what needs to be done, what are the expectations to fulfill, and who may I need to meet with for coffee.  Although this perspective is motivated by the desire to be a good steward of what the Lord has given me and a desire to be responsible to do all things to the Lord, I am learning that it may not be the first stone I need to step on.  I think God’s perspective is who do I want to be.  Meaning as I look at my day, my week and my month, and I consider how to make everything fit, the first question I need to consider is who I want to be.  My desire is to live a godly life.  God, my Creator, is the One who designed this world and had a major hand in making me.  He knows best what lifestyle will yield the most fruitful and abundant life.  I find that biblical values do not naturally become habits in daily life.  Between the flesh and the indoctrination of this culture, the default is to survive and live blindly to the expectations of this world.  Defining success and a fruitful day can make all the difference in how we choose to live.  It’s been a learning curve to see how much choice I really do have to shape who I want to become and not be a raft just tossed out to sea.  When someone looks at my week and sees how I spend my time,  I desire them to see someone who has an active relationship with God and is connected authentically with community.  Someone is growing as a disciple of Jesus and making disciples, seeing others grow spiritually.  That they would see the heart of prayer, outreach, and service to the community has high values.  Family time would be essential.  As I think of this list, my heart can quickly feel overwhelmed in there is no way I can do all that and do my job well.  Everything changes when I let God teach me how to open of these values and mold them into my life for me.  I can get so caught up in what it looks like, that I can quickly burden myself with a to-do list that God never asked me to do.  My motivation is not to build my own reputation or simply try to impress people.  My desire is to live in truth and grace and honor God with the days He has given me.  So the question I have been pondering is what are the few essential foundational activities do I need to establish in my week, so that I can take steps toward living the abundant life God has offered?  What are some of the activities I feel have been important, but they may need to take a back seat so that I have room to grow?  Yup, that’s where I am today!