Shopping for Time by Carolyn Mahaney

Author:Carolyn Mahaney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crossway

Although your list may look slightly different, it’s important that your priorities come from God’s Word and not cultural or personal preferences. We should all have similar priorities stemming from our identity as Christian women, even though we may use other words or categories to describe them.

Once you’ve listed your priorities, create a separate page for each one to use as a worksheet. Then evaluate yourself, prayerfully going through the priorities one at a time. Under each category, assess how you are doing—what is going well and what needs to change. Then consider how you can grow in that key area of your life. After you’ve completed your evaluation, you’ll use this data to come up with a simple plan for your current season.

Do you have your blank worksheets ready and your pen (or fingers) poised? Good. Let’s zoom in for a closer look at our priorities.

Priority 1: Grow in Godliness

First Timothy 4:8 asserts: “While bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” Because godliness is of eminent importance, this is our first priority.

Under this category we should first consider our practice of meeting with God (as covered in the previous chapter) and ask ourselves, “How can I make my devotions more fruitful?” Maybe we are struggling with consistency and need a friend to give us a wake-up call. Or possibly we need to implement a new Bible-reading plan.

Secondly, we must evaluate our progress in personal holiness: “What is one area where I believe God is calling me to grow in godliness?” This may be a pattern of bitterness or judgmentalism about which we have recently been convicted. Maybe our husband or a friend has pointed out an evidence of pride or selfishness. Or we may have been tempted by fear and unbelief in the midst of a trial. Once we discover an area in need of growth, we might look up Scripture verses on this topic. Or we might decide to read a book or an article or ask our husband or a friend for help. Simply taking one step of humility will invite God’s grace to help us change.

Priority 2: Love My Family

According to Titus 2:4, a woman’s main concern should be to love her family. Therefore, on this page it is helpful to make a list of the names of our immediate family members. If we are married with children, we will want to write down their names. If we still live at home with our parents, we might list them along with our siblings. Possibly we are caretaker for an elderly relative, or we are single with nieces and nephews, or we have grandchildren. Whatever our family configuration, we should list our closest relatives.

After making our list, we should ponder the question, “What is one family relationship I want to give more attention to in this season?” We should begin by considering whether or not we need to address any deficiencies or challenges in our marriage.

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