The Word and the Work: Thoughts on Preaching, Pastoring, and the Christian Life

There are two times a year I get reflective.  One is at New Year's time.  The second is on my birthday.  Perhaps this is true for everyone, but I always find myself in the midst of self-assessment at these times.  Luckily my birthday is in June so that makes for a nice time of reflection every six months.   Recently, I have begun to doubt the value of reflection in my life for a couple of reasons.  Reflection almost inevitably leads to regret.  Regretting things that were done or things that were not done.  This is not necessarily wrong if done properly but the truth is that most of us do not do  it properly.  What do I mean?  The type of reflection that most of us engage in is inherently self-centered.  We linger long in thought over our missed opportunities or perhaps wrong that has been done to us.  That is not the way God calls us to live. It is right and proper to think upon what we have done if we have unconfessed sin in our lives or wrongs that we need to make right with