Staying on the path

Whatever “the path” is for you, maybe it is living a life of devotion, or you envision your ideal self and have an idea of who you are but then there is somehow a gap and you are not sure how to bridge it, perhaps it is fulfilling a ministry God has given you, or to be more disciplined, or overcoming an obstacle, or a sum of those things.
In order to stay on the path, it is my firm conviction that a few things are essential for us:

1 - A clear commitment 
If you don’t have a clear commitment to be who you want to be, or do what you want to do, chances are that you just stay among the crowd of spectators who never risks anything, who is not bleeding on the inside for a dying world, but eventually will suffer from the incredible “averageness” that marks their lifestyle. Please don’t be that, especially if you are a Christian. 

2 - Passion 
The reason why sometimes the ex-criminal picks up the Bible and believes every word it says, while the liberal theologian sleeps into heresy with two masters in theology (it really happens, I just recently read about a guy who taught at universities who doesn’t believe in a real hell now) is because they are passionate; I would pick someone who is passionate any time of the day before someone who is well-taught, while of course the goal is to be passionate and well-taught at the same time because both are needed for maturity. 

3 - A plan
If you don’t have a plan on where you are going in life, the devil will have a plan for you. Planning a day, planning a week, planning ahead is important. But not putting the trust in the planning but in the guidance of the Spirit of God while you plan 

4 - Wisdom 
A little check-up here and there, reconsidering decisions that were made, understanding that we have never arrived and that we really don’t know a whole lot. We are so little, and God is so big. Isn’t it amazing that God would share His wisdom with us, so that we can follow His lead, be the best versions of ourselves here on the earth, and be a blessing to humanity.

On a prayer walk,
Philipp J. Schmerold, August 2020