Mark's Sunday School Review

As human beings, we certainly have an ongoing internal battle of good and evil. It’s like the image of the small angel and devil perched on our shoulders. Both whispering in our ears, trying to convince us their plan of action is best. This struggle has been going on since man was put here on earth. Paul speaks to this in Romans 7:15-25. He confesses his personal battle of wanting to do good, but falling short. We all fight this battle in varying degrees and we can’t win it alone. We must include God and combine His strength with ours if we hope to have a chance.

The first step is to be aware this battle exists. If we pretend it doesn’t we are kidding ourselves. Second, we must be intentional and do something about it. We are all different, so different methods work for each of us. The key is to searching what works best for you. Finally, you must take action. Pastor Lee told about an intentional action strategy employed by Jerry Seinfeld called the “Don’t Break the Chain” Strategy. It is said that once when Jerry was asked about “any tips for a young comic”, he replied…the way to be a better comic was to create better jokes and the way to create better jokes was to write every day. He said to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step is to get a big red magic marker. For each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day. “After a few days, you'll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job is to not break the chain.”

Being better, becoming who God intends us to be, does not happen magically. We have to become aware of God’s plans for us and then intentionally act so that we can put the red X on the calendar. There will be times that we don’t get to X out the day. We just need to remember that with God’s help we can start again tomorrow. The more intentional we are about making the chain the longer the chain will get.