By: Dara LaPorta
“For us, there is one God, the Father who is the ultimate source of all things and the goal of our lives…” 1 Corinthians 8:6 (THE VOICE)
Have you ever done that personal development activity where you fill out a pie chart with all of the “categories” of your life, giving the biggest slices to the most important things, etc?
Me too.
I had done it so many times and always remember feeling so proud when I gave “Jesus” or “faith” the biggest slice of my pie (obviously).
Until this one time. Actually, it was the last time I ever did this activity. As I looked at my circle, evaluating and deciding what to put where, trying to find balance amongst all of my priorities, what hadn’t been clear before, became so obvious to me at that moment.
God doesn’t want just one slice of my pie…not even if it’s the biggest slice!
He wants the whole pie.
So I filled out my slices with “Family” and “Work” and “Friendships” and “Free Time”, etc., and then in big bold letters, wrote “Jesus” across the whole pie.
God is not just supposed to be one slice in the pie of our lives. He isn’t supposed to be a separate file in our cabinet. He is not supposed to fit in a color coded category on our calendar.
He is the whole pie. He should influence and infiltrate all the separate parts of our lives bringing them together in unity and peace in only the way He can. But He can’t do that until we are willing to fully surrender every slice, every folder, and every color coded category to Him.
Our relationship with God is not something we balance against the rest of our lives. When it comes to God, the answer is not balance, but full surrender.
I love this Bible verse from 1 Corinthian 6:8 that says, “For us, there is one God, the Father who is the ultimate source of all things and the goal of our lives…”
The goal of our lives.
Jesus is the goal, the ultimate source of all things.
And He wants it all.
I pray that we will no longer strive to live “balanced” lives, but lives fully surrendered to God, willing to hand over the whole pie.