What Inspires You?
I was reading Matt Chandler’s new blog today and a post he wrote titled “Inspirations.” (I’ve got to tell you, if there’s one guy I’d like to meet before I die, it’s Chandler…and his blog is as good as his sermons!) His basic question is, what inspires you?
Here are a few excerpts:
“…those moments where our souls are stimulated to a high level of feeling, thinking and doing.”
“What is it that inspires me? Who is it? What stirs my affection…for my wife? For my children? For life in general?”
“Several years ago I started applying this line of thought to my relationship with Christ. Instead of asking myself what inspired me to be a good man (what’s that anyway?) I started asking what stirs my affections for Christ. What, when I’m doing it, when I’m around it or dwelling on it creates in me a greater hunger for, passion for and worship of Christ and His mission?”
“What inspires you? Better yet, what stirs your affections for Christ, truth and holiness? If we can fill our lives with the things that stir our affections and avoid and flee those things that rob us of inspiration, we have a better shot at dwelling deeply. What and who inspires you? Stirs you? What presses you into holy places? What robs you of joy and vitality? What robs you of your affection for Christ and holiness?”
Here’s my list of 7 things that inspire me (in no particular order):
- 1. Early mornings on my front porch, hot coffee in hand
2. Late afternoons on my front porch, icy Diet Coke in hand
3. Matt Chandler sermons (of course!)
4. Anything written by Paul
5. My favorite music at the time (right now it’s anything by Coldplay, Hillsong United, or Brooke Fraser)
6. Hours of “free time” spent with a good book or just a pen and paper at a local coffee shop
7. A deep conversation with my wife or a friend about missions, ministry philosophy, or God’s plan to reach the world
And 7 things that rob me of inspiration:
- 1. Too much TV
2. Idle time wasted online
3. Getting up late
4. Traffic
5. Red tape
6. Glass-half-empty-people
7. Laziness
What’s on your list of inspiring or inspiration-robbing things, activities, or people?
Britt said:
Inspirations:
1. Feeling fully utilized
2. Serving others and realizing it’s not about me
3. My friends and family
4. Playing with kids
5. Coffee and worship on my way to work
6. Seacoast messages and First Wednesdays
Inspiration Zappers:
1. Half-heartedness
2. Catty people
3. Missing friends and family
4. Alarm clocks
5. not feeling fully utilized
6. Trying to give up my daily fountain coke
Nathan said:
I totally agree with your lists…especially #6 of the Inspiration Zappers!