There's Always Room For Improvement

It has been said, “The biggest room in every house is the room for improvement.” That saying is kind of a peculiar one, but it is absolutely true. Everyone has room for improvement in their lives. Certainly, it seems we recognize this truth, and we do what we can to develop into better individuals. After all, athletes will watch film to improve, teachers will attend conferences to advance their skills, and people will read self-help books to better themselves. Without a doubt, improvement is something that is on everyone’s radar, but do we as Christians strive to improve day by day? It would be fair to say every member of the Lord’s body has their own areas of struggle, but more often than not there are typically 3 areas we all struggle with. With that in mind, let’s consider these areas and how we can improve them.

First, just about every Christian would say, “I need to study my Bible more.” Certainly, if that’s our mindset we are in good company. The psalmist said, “Oh, How I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97) Making God’s Word a priority is without a doubt something we ought to do, however more often than not, our Bible’s collect more dust than our time. So, how do we improve the amount of time we spend in God’s Word? Consider the example of Ezra. “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.” (Ezra 7:10). We notice, if we want to improve the amount of time we spend in God’s Word, we must prepare our hearts and commit. The truth of the matter is, we can spend more time in God’s Word if we have the right heart and commit ourselves to studying.

Second, just about every Christian would say, “I need to pray more.” Without a doubt, God wants the Christian to communicate with Him more often. In fact, Paul said, “pray without ceasing.” (1 Thess. 5:17) We recognize prayer should be a normal practice, however far too often we neglect to commune with the Lord. So, how can we improve our prayer life? If we want to improve our prayer life, utilize lists. Make lists of the things you are thankful for, the sick of the congregation, the work of the church, etc. The reality is a long list leads to more opportunities for prayer.

Finally, just about every Christian would say, “I need to be more evangelistic.” As Christians we know our task is to make more disciples. (Matt. 28:19, 20) Yet it would be fair to say evangelism is something we all struggle with. So, how do we strengthen our evangelistic efforts? If we want to be better evangelists, we need to turn physical conversations into spiritual conversations. Jesus asked for a drink of water than told the Samaritan woman He could provide living water. (John 4:7-10) What did Jesus do? He turned a physical conversation spiritual, and if we want to be better evangelists we will look for opportunities to do the same.

            As Christians we recognize there is room for improvement in our spiritual lives. So, what are we going to do about it? May we all decide that we will better ourselves for the Lord, our brethren, and the lost.