Taking Charge of Your Life - Part 3

Date: 9/1/2010
Speaker: Pastor Johnny Moore

“Taking Charge Of Your Life, Part 3”

                Last week we looked at how the Prodigal Son took charge of his life (Luke 15:11-32). We can see that the best time to take charge of your life is today! Start the process with the following steps:

C.H.A.R.G.E.

                C—Check Your Present Location: If you’re going to “take charge,” you’ve got to locate where you are. You can’t get where you’re going until you know where you are. Luke 15:17 says, “When he came to his senses…” He realized where he was! He acknowledged that his life was a mess. This step happens when we do three things:

1. Evaluate— Ask the question, “Where am I?” This requires us to stop, look and listen. The Prodigal Son realized he was broke, destitute, hungry, unemployed, no license, no insurance, no family, no 401K, no nothing!

2. Calculate—Ask the question, “How did I get here?” To answer this you must review; take a look behind you. The Prodigal Son found out that he had been rebellious, selfish, over ambitious, and had lived only for the moment.

3. Motivate— Ask the question, “What am I going to do now?” This is where we begin to “dream again”; get a vision of where you want to go. Are you going to lie down and die in this mess, or get up and do something?

                H— Humble Yourself: This is a very important principle in the “taking charge” process. Peter writes (I Peter 5:5-7), “Clothe yourself with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore under God’s almighty hand that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you.” This “humility” thing can be tough sometimes. It requires us to:

1. Admit it’s your fault: Not somebody else, but you! Until you can do this, you’re not ready.

2. Accept responsibility for your own actions: Don’t blame others, just grow up and take responsibility.

3. Adjust your attitude: You cannot change your direction or you’re actions until you first change your attitude.

                Before going further, take time and work on these steps. Then, we will work on two more. Taking charge of your life is something no one can do except you. Like my friend John Maxwell says, “The only person who can stop you from becoming who God intended you to be is you.” It’s easy to blame and complain, but if you really want to become productive and effective you’ve got to just “take charge of your life!”

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