What I fail to tell them is that, less than a week later, a great deal of stress may creep back in as they await the posting of final grades. For some students, they are stressed about possibly not getting straight A’s. Others are shooting for the Dean’s List. And some are just praying they did well enough to avoid suspension. Stress is relative, I suppose.
Getting graded, or being judged in any way, is rarely an enjoyable experience. You work hard for 16 weeks only to have all of your effort summed up with a single letter. Even for my job, I am regularly evaluated by my boss. We have a few meetings every year where we set goals for my work, and then we check back in to see how I’ve done. I work hard to make sure those “judgment meetings” go well, just as college students work hard for their grades.
Why is it, then, that while the use of our time often reflects the importance of the outcomes of these things, our priorities do not necessarily reflect the importance of the only judgment that really matters?
I am not a big fan of “hell fire and brimstone” evangelism, so I am not going to go into that debate. I’m talking about doing what is asked of us. Seeking to meet the goals set for us by the Bible. Meeting the expectations of the Holy Spirit. Living as though our relationship with God really matters.
I think one problem with our “spiritual performance” comes from the lack of accountability. We do not have a scheduled assessment. We don’t know when grades will come out or when our eternal evaluation will be. There seems to be an out of sight, out of mind type of mentality when it comes to us believing that our actions really matter.
Obviously, having accountability meetings with other believers can play an important role in helping us overcome this challenge. I am a huge advocate of participating in accountability groups with fellow Christians.
However, until we get it in our heads that God is always with us, and that pleasing Him is the most important thing we can ever do, I fear that we will continue to fail. And it can’t just be a thought in the back of our heads, it has to be on the forefront of our minds at all times. But how do we do that? You tell me.
Seriously… tell me what helps you focus on God in the comments section below. Please and thanks.
And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9 NLT)