One of the events in the summer Olympics is the pentathlon. It is composed of five events: pistol shooting, fencing, horse back riding, running and swimming. The pentathlete’s goal is to succeed in all five areas, not one or two.
Your life is a pentathlon of five purposes, which you must keep in balance. These purposes were practiced by the first Christians in Acts chapter 2, explained by Paul in Ephesians chapter 4 and modeled by Jesus in John 17 but they are summarized in the great commandment and the great commission of our Lord Jesus Christ.
A great commitment to the Great commandment and the great commission will make you a great Christian. If you are serious about staying on track, you will need to develop these habits.
Giving yourself a regular spiritual check up. The best way to balance your life is to evaluate yourself periodically. God places a high value on the habit of self-evaluation. To maintain your physical health, you need regular check-ups with a doctor who will access vital conditions like blood pressure, temperature, weight and so on. So, for your spiritual health, you need to regularly check the five vital ingredients: worship, relationship or fellowship, growth in character, ministry and mission (Lamentations 3:40)
Writing down your progress in a journal – Another way to reinforce your progress in fulfilling God’s purposes for your life is to keep a spiritual journal. This is not a diary of events, but a record of life lessons you don’t want to forget. Your life is a journey and a journey deserves a journal. You owe it to future generations to preserve the testimony of how God helped you fulfill his purposes in your life. Moses obeyed God’s command to record Israel’s spiritual journey. If he had been lazy, we would be robbed of powerful life lessons of the Exodus (Num 33:2; Heb 2:1; Ps 102: 18)
Passing on what you know to others – if you want to keep growing the best way to learn more is to pass on what you have already learned. The more you know, the more God expects you to use that knowledge to help others. Knowledge increases responsibility. (I Tim. 4:6) Jesus told His father I John 17 6 – 26 what he had been doing for the last three years: preparing his disciples to live for God’s purposes; helping them to know and love God (worship); taught them to love one another (fellowship); gave them to maturity (discipleship); showed them how to serve (ministry); and sent them out to tell others (mission).
Today, God is calling each of us to live a balanced life. We are to add virtue to our faith, then knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and finally love. When we have gone through this sequence of character development, we will be able to help others do the same, bringing them into his fellowship, help them grow to maturity and discover their place of service and then send them out to be a blessing to others. Blessed are the balanced; they shall outlast everyone.
