The 30s Are About Priorities
Theme of the Week: Questions You'll Face
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on … looking forward to what lies ahead (Philippians 3:13). Bonus Reading: Colossians 2:6-7
Questions and issues begin to shift. One's personal freedom is limited as more permanent relationships and commitments are made. With expanding responsibility but no expansion of time, thirty-somethings ask, How do I prioritize the demands on my life? There are wives to love and know more intimately, children who need endless attention, jobs that absorb energy, homes to maintain, bills to pay, obligations to meet …
In the 30s, one begins to see that careers have winners, losers, and also-rans. The question forms: How far can I go in fulfilling my sense of purpose?
For many, the 30s mark the onset of male loneliness. Old friends drift away. New friendships aren't easily made. Typically new acquaintances don't have the time to build the relationships that were so satisfying in younger years. So who are the people with whom I know I walk through life?
Life's requirements leave little time for contemplation and spiritual revitalization. So most thirty-somethings ask, What does my spiritual life look like? Do I even have time for one? They see things in themselves they thought they might have overcome by now, simply by growing up. Why am I not a better person? they ask.
—Gordon MacDonald in A Resilient Life
My Response: Which of my friends have split? Who has replaced them?
Thought to Apply: Man arrives as a novice at each age of his life. —SéBASTIEN-ROCH NICOLAS CHAMFORT (French writer)
Adapted from A Resilient Life: You Can Move Ahead No Matter What (Nelson Books, 2004) by permission.
Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
Lord, You've promised to guide me throughout life. As my questions change, help me to keep turning to You for solid answers.
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