5 Tips for Putting the Mission First
By: Missionary Team
What if there is life after this short time we have on earth? What if Heaven exists? Will you be ready? You see, if you chase after things on this earth you will fail! You will never be successful enough, good enough, popular enough, or attractive enough because there’s always going to be someone with more advantages than you. The problem is that this world tells you that you can’t and you shouldn’t fail! SUCCESS SUCCESS SUCCESS! If you don’t accomplish this, that, and the other thing then you’re worthless. The world judges you on what you do, but with Christ you are loved just as you are. Your failures can be a glorification in Christ. St. Paul said, “For when I am weak, it is then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). It is time to let go of earthly things and put our mission first. Get ourselves and others to Heaven!
1. Pray daily for the grace to continue to stay Heaven-focused.
It is by grace that we can put the mission first and live with heaven as our goal. To do so is to be a living sign of Christ on earth, “forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead.” (Philippians 3:13) To live this way is not natural; it is supernatural. Only by the grace of God through prayer does putting the mission first become possible.
2. Make a list of your values and morals.
Put it in a place you can see it every day. Putting the mission first is not accomplished merely by having the right beliefs and by praying every day. Putting the mission first is accomplished by living your simple daily life according to the values and morals that will get you to heaven. Values and morals only mean something when they are lived, so keep them as a point of focus for yourself to structure your whole life. The goal is to orient all your actions toward getting yourself and others to heaven.
3. Make a game plan to get to heaven and stick to it!
People who accomplish any kind of mission are creatures of habit, and every saint that I know of was faithful to a rule of life. Persistent consistency in the little, simple things is the key to accomplishing anything outstanding. Getting ourselves and others to heaven is no exception. Your game plan should be fit to your personal level. Maybe 5 minutes of silent prayer every day is challenging enough for you. Maybe 30 minutes is challenging enough. What matters most is that you commit to a game plan and stay faithful to it.
4. Make it your mission to bring others to heaven, and be sure that all of your conversations and interactions with others are working towards that goal.
If we really care about people in our life, we will want nothing more than to help get them to heaven. If our conversations and interactions with someone do not reflect that, then we must not really love them. Putting the mission first is about being intentional and integrated. Every word you speak and action you do should be in the name of love. How does teasing your friend bring him closer to heaven? It could be playful fun. But if it is cutting deeper than that, you need to repent and change your life.
5. Create a more specific personal mission statement for your life and read it daily! What do you want written on your tombstone? “He was a terrific Fortnite player.” “Her Instagram game was amazing.” “A lot of people thought this guy was cool.” These examples sound ridiculous, and yet the vast majority of our time and energy goes into these things. We act like these kinds of things are the main mission of our lives and hardly ever consider what our mission should actually be. Stop and think about what your life ought to really be about. What does it look like for you to put the mission first? What do you want written on your tombstone? In the end is our beginning.
When we focus on the eternal perspective, all of a sudden we have a real mission. There is more to this life than what we see. Heaven is real, and we need to start preparing ourselves and those around us to get there.
We came from the Father, and it is our number one goal to make it back to Him! If we want a life of fulfillment, then we need to get ourselves on the path to Heaven and bring as many people with us before we leave this earth.
