Do you know any social justice warriors? Are you one? I had every reason to be. My homeland was occupied and there were plenty of injustice issues around to choose from. But you can see from my life that I gave very little emphasis to these issues. I had a core message about the Kingdom of God and that was my primary emphasis. When pressed on the matter I said that my Kingdom was not of this world, and that the Kingdom of God is within you. I was demonstrating to my followers that my message could thrive in any circumstances.

Do you pursue excellence? For what reason? Do you do it because you believe in the value of what you are doing and want it to be your best effort? Or is it because people are watching and you want to make a good impression? You know which of these is the ‘right’ answer, but don’t be quick to assume that you are not influenced by the opinion of others. Do you put the same effort forth if you know that no one else will ever know as you do the value of your work?

Do you like listening to recorded messages? These are increasingly common in your world of technology. They are here to stay although they are not well-liked. Do you have recorded messages of your own playing in your head? When certain situations come up, or certain people come to mind, does your assessment of them spring to mind and play through unbidden? How is this different from making a phone call and listening to a recorded message? Do yours work in favor of or against true understanding and love? If they are not working for you then ask me to erase them.

Have you lived a life without regrets? Have you heard other people say this fairly late in life, and express it as a point of pride? This implies that they did everything perfectly right from the beginning. What would you have to repent of if there was nothing that you regretted? Yet you have met other people who are consumed by their regrets and this is not healthy either. How do you deal with yours? Consider them from the perspective of redemptive purpose.