Living Intentionally: Envious No More

Living Intentionally: Envious No More

“If I live intentionally, being true to my own personality, serving out of my God-given giftedness and passion, I no longer feel the urge to envy anyone else’s career, marriage, talents, body or mission.”

The day I jotted these liberating words into my journal, I sighed with relief. Although I rarely voiced envy, I was secretly disappointed that others had fulfilled their dreams but I had not. I wanted to honor God as the woman He created me to be. Yet I wasn’t certain how to do that and I was afraid to even try.

Afraid that God (and others) would think I was selfish if I took the initiative to nurture my interests and gifts. Afraid that events in my past may have canceled out my credibility. Afraid that I might misinterpret God and make “wrong” decisions.

Then I met a new friend, Carol Travilla, and together we embarked on a journey to discover how to live courageously and intentionally for God. We learned that being “intentional” means becoming proactive instead of having a knee-jerk reaction to situations.

We met other intentional women with hearts for God. We’re all learning to accept what we cannot change about our season and circumstances, making courageous and deliberate decisions about the things we can change. At the same time, we’ve decided not to let the attitudes and pressures of other people unduly influence us. We long to be focused and directed, not floundering or driven. (And that’s a bold goal in this action-obsessed culture!)

Gradually we recognized other perks from learning to live intentionally such as stress reduction, increased self-respect, healthier relationships and less over-commitment and burnout.

How about you? Perhaps your circumstances are not exactly as you envisioned they would be at this stage of your life. Yet when you come as you are to partner with God, you can be assured that He is in the process of fulfilling His commitment to guide and produce good in you. (Eph. 2:10) You will gain courage to be yourself and stop playing the “comparison game.”