Weekly Devotional - Practice Makes Perfect
‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments. –
Matthew 22:37-40, NLT
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age. – Matthew 28:19-20, NLT
"Practice makes perfect."
How many times have you heard that?
It's a great mantra but I'm not so sure I agree. Let me explain. What happens if I keep practicing the wrong thing? Does that bring perfection? I don't think so.
For example: I had a few tennis lessons growing up but I was mostly self-taught. And if there was one part of my game that really suffered, it was my backhand. In fact, if you were to play me right now, you would quickly realize that the best way to win a point would be to aim to my left side of the court (let's be honest, it wouldn't be very hard to beat me anyway right now).
The problem with my backhand wasn't that I didn't practice. My tennis team practiced every day! The problem was that I practiced the wrong techniques.
Maybe it should be: "Practice makes permanent."
My point is this: Practice makes perfect only if you're practicing the right things.
When it comes to the health of our church, I want to make sure that we're practicing the right things that will build our faith and grow a great church. Our five value statements come from The Great Commandment and The Great Commission (see above).
Here they are:
- Found people find people. "Go and make disciples"
- You can't do life alone. "Baptizing them"
- Growing people change. "Teach these new disciples"
- Worship is a lifestyle. "Love the Lord"
- Saved people serve people. "Love your neighbor"
If we practice these five purpose statements and hit the mark in each of these areas, we will become a more perfect example of Christ and God will do amazing things!
