If you’ve got ever purchased a automobile, you’ve got seen the owner’s manual. It’s the book that tells you in regards to the “non-negotiables” for maintaining the automobile. These are things like changing the oil, filling the tank with gasoline, topping off the transmission fluid, and having tires with adequate tread. We spend numerous time ensuring these non-negotiables are done in order that once we get within the automobile, it runs properly.
The same principle is true for the lifetime of a believer. We must spend time on the non-negotiables in order that our lives may glorify God. But what are the non-negotiables? They have to be defined with the intention to maintain and fulfill them. In looking for the Lord, I actually have discovered what I feel to be seven non-negotiables for all times. Each principle is centered on the Lord, bringing the glory to Him alone, and the success of every is crucial to the healthy Christian life.
#1: Seek God, not sin.
For thus says the Lord to the home of Israel, “Seek Me that you could live.” — Amos 5:4
God is the life-giver. We will find life in no other. But as sinful creatures, our hearts are naturally susceptible to wander from our Creator. Our souls were made to pursue God, know God, and walk with God—nothing else. It’s only as we pursue Him that we live. In the book of Amos, God tries over and yet again to get the eye of His people. He allows them to experience famine, drought, and pestilence and yet, as God says in Amos 4:11, “you’ve gotten not returned to me.” But Amos 5:4 reminds us of where life is found. God says, “Seek me that you could live.” These words should get our attention. We will only find life in looking for Him.
#2: Fear God, not men.
The fear of the Lord results in life, in order that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil. — Proverbs 19:23.
Our God is holy and is the Lord God Almighty. When I believe of the ability He holds, I can not help but fear Him and hold Him in reverential awe. Do you care more about what men consider you than God? Then learn to fear God, and also you can be preoccupied in walking in His presence, not wondering what other people consider you. You will begin to live your life in light of eternity, and the temporal views of men won’t matter anymore.
The fear of the Lord also keeps us from evil and sin. A.W. Tozer writes, “It is inconceivable to maintain our moral practices sound and our inward attitudes right while our idea of God is erroneous or inadequate.” When we lose the fear of God and do not respect Him and His commandments, we’re going to live our lives without accountability to God and each other, which is the reason for a variety of sins.
#3: Love God, not the world.
Do not love the world nor the things on the earth. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is just not in him. For all that’s on the earth, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is just not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and likewise its lusts; however the one who does the need of God lives eternally. — John 2:15
What is the item of your affections? Power? Recognition? Hobbies? Not too way back, I visited an unbelievable house, and as I walked around it, for only a moment my thought was, “I could have had a house like this.” But I used to be reminded that a house is just not what life is all about. The world is looking for to seduce us right into a love affair, but we must love God and be preoccupied with pleasing Him alone.
When I first fell in love with Barbara, nobody doubted that I loved her; I used to be preoccupied with pleasing her. We must also love His people and be concerned about their everlasting destiny. We must have a look at them with compassion, like Jesus, and be moved with motion to do something for them. Those who love God will do what He wants and be concerned about His mission and His will, and they’re going to fulfill His calling.
#4: Believe God, not the deceiver.
You are of your father the devil, and you desire to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the start, and doesn’t stand in the reality because there isn’t any truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he’s a liar and the daddy of lies. — John 8:44
In 1938 a person in Long Island ordered a really expensive weather barometer. He unwrapped it and realized that the arrow that was purported to reflect the weather he was experiencing was stuck at the underside, pointing at “Hurricane.” So he slammed it down a couple of times, and when it didn’t respond, he wrote a hot letter to the manufacturer and mailed it off on the technique to work. When he got here home, he found that a hurricane had hit, and all the pieces was gone.
As believers, sometimes we don’t desire to consider the reality. When life and Scripture collide, which one do you suspect and trust? The deceiver wants us to consider the lie. Will you suspect God? The Scriptures tell us that without faith it’s inconceivable to please God, but our nature is to maneuver toward unbelief. Never forget that your adversary is the daddy of lies. He desires to destroy you, so he works to make us doubt the guarantees and to accuse the brethren.
#5: Obey God, not your appetites.
Do you not know that those that run in a race all run, but just one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you could win. Everyone who competes within the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, in order that, after I actually have preached to others, I actually won’t be disqualified. — 1 Corinthians 9:24
Our appetites are the passions that now we have inside our flesh, contrary to the spirit, craving and battling to be satisfied. If you give in even the slightest to those desires, the enemy can use that to launch an attack in your life. At the identical time, the identical trivial act in obedience to God could also be used to launch a robust life-changing ministry. Our passions have to be subordinated to the cross.
Obedience to God demands two principal things. It demands courage to say no to self, no to appetites, no to lusts of the flesh, no to what’s easy, and yes to carrying the cross. It also demands faithfulness—the plodding endurance to God, to his call, and to that which He calls you to suffer. Only by yielding to the cross are you able to obey God, not your appetites.
#6: Serve God, not self.
Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” — Isaiah 6:8
The concept of becoming a “bond slave” within the Scriptures implies that we’re the slaves, and He is the master. That implies that we must give up completely, without reservation. Many would see such a service as lowly, and it’s humbling, nevertheless it must be seen as a privilege to serve such a loving Lord. In 1972, in the primary 12 months of our marriage, Barbara and I made a decision that before we might give anything to one another we might give up our lives in writing to Jesus Christ, giving Him all the pieces we ever dreamed of getting. We gave it up and gave Him the contract and title to our lives. Looking back at that day, I see now we gave Him nothing, but I’m amazed to see that He has given us all the pieces in return.
#7: Worship God, not comfort.
Though the fig tree mustn’t blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock must be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle within the stalls, yet I’ll exult within the Lord, I’ll rejoice within the God of my salvation. — Habakkuk 3:17
I do not know anyone who enjoys suffering, but I do know many who’ve benefited from the expansion that happens because of this. Are you celebrating God and worshiping Him within the midst of your pain or do you seek comfort by escaping it? When suffering comes, you should move through the pain to the God who allowed it to come back to fruition. When you escape, you miss the comfort God gives within the midst of that pain.
Barbara and I actually have given thanks for brief paychecks, for the deep waters of misunderstandings and unmet expectations, for a teenage boy with muscular dystrophy, for the lack of friendships attributable to the decision of God—the list goes on and on. Pain has pressed us against our Savior and reminded us that we are usually not on top of things. Pain ends in growth and greater fruitfulness for Him. We worship God through music, prayer, God’s Word, and baptism. But we must always also worship God within the midst of suffering and pain.
These seven non-negotiables are the fundamentals for the solid Christian life, and if any of them are neglected, we can be those to pay, not God. Now that you already know what the non-negotiables are, why don’t you sit down in a quiet place and meditate on the areas where you’re taking excellent care of your spiritual life after which ask the Lord to point out you the areas where you wish help. And then select an in depth friend or accountability partner and share with her or him the areas where you wish help and prayer. Soon, you’ll begin to experience a healthier life—mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Dennis Rainey is the president of familylife today. He and his wife, Barbara, co-authored the best-selling books Building Your Mate’s Self-Esteem and Moments Together for Couples. Dennis hosts the nationally syndicated “FamilyLife Today” radio program and has spoken at conferences across the country. The Raineys have six children and diverse grandchildren.Â
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