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Kerry Lytle

October 5, 2024

Philippians 1:6 New King James Version

"Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ"


I love lists. I love to cross things off my list. There is something about writing out everything I need to do and then checking them off one by one. It makes me feel like I am accomplishing something when that seemingly endless list of “to do’s” starts to shrink.

 

I live by lists at work. I live by lists at home. And at times, lists help keep me on track when it comes to living the gospel daily. Say my prayer. Check. Read my scriptures. Check. Go to church. Check.

 

I am a fan of lists. I like knowing the expectations and being able to see my progress toward the end goal.

 

There are days where I work hard to check off every box. I get all the laundry done, clean each room in the house, and fix dinner. My list is never-ending. Something always replaces what was just checked off.

 

Does Your Faith Feel Like a To-Do List?

If I am not careful, I can start to see my relationship with God as a checklist as well. And I don’t think I am alone. For a lot of us, following Jesus can feel like a list of things to do:

 

Read the Bible.

Pray.

Go to church.

Join a small group.

And, if you have extra time or are extra spiritual, write in a journal. 

These are all good things! But they’re only beneficial when we see them as a means to grow more intimate in our relationship with God and just something to check off our list.

 

I was raised going to church. I have always tried to do what I am supposed to do. But why was I doing it? I couldn’t help but think of how guilty I had been of “Church checklist” living. Was I doing it just to say I was doing it or was I doing it to draw closer with God?

 

I had never really thought of checklist living as a potentially bad thing, but when it comes to our relationship with the Lord and what we do for Him, it might not be such a good thing. It is possible to be active in the Church and less active in the gospel.

 

Why is that? I believe it has something to do with checklist living versus living in continual conversion. Our participation in the Church is an outward manifestation of our spiritual desires. It’s what we check off on our list. But the gospel is the plan God has for us. It includes the things of eternity, and they are often difficult to measure. They require questions like, “How much faith do we really have? How repentant are we?

 

If we are truly becoming who God wants us to be, we recognize that conversion never ends. We are always dealing with something new. We are always changing.  The things on our spiritual checklists can never be crossed off because we will be working on them our whole lives. Only through the atonement of Jesus Christ can we truly accomplish anything of eternal significance.

 

When God begins a good work in us, He will be faithful to complete it (Philippians 1:6). This work begins the day we accept God’s gift of salvation and continues each day until we meet Jesus in heaven. When we surrender our lives to Jesus, God works in us to make us more like His Son so we can reflect His glory to those around us. We are a constant work in progress.

 

God uses every circumstance, every conflict, every joy, and every pain to make us more holy. “Becoming holy” isn’t something we can check off a list at the end of a productive day. It’s a process that only happens when we’re in a relationship with God, and it changes our perspective on our to-do lists.

 

We will never reach a point where we can separate ourselves from God because we’re done with everything on our spiritual to-do list. Instead, as we stay connected to God through His Word, prayer, and godly relationships, He gives us what we need. God equips us to meet each challenge and face each circumstance in a way that makes us holier and brings Him glory. The fruit His presence produces in us is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

 

When we follow Jesus into a relationship, we throw all to-do lists out the window and jump into a relationship that brings God glory, brings us joy, and does the world good.

 

I love checklists. But when it comes to living the gospel, it might be time to chuck that Church checklist. There’s more to life than to-do lists. If we are living a life of continual change, there's always something more. We are focused on doing what’s right for the right reason. We are not worried about the do’s and the don’ts. We are focused on the gospel of Jesus Christ—loving God and loving others!

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