Life-Editing
By David Drury
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There is a great Christian spiritual discipline that has
been practiced in one form or another for many years. Some people call it
accountability. Others have called it spiritual direction. The idea is this:
you share what is happening in your spiritual journey—your sins, struggles and
victories—then you ask that other person to help you make it to the next stage
in the journey.
But more than a few bristle at calling someone their
“spiritual director.” It seems like calling someone your boss. The word
accountability is likewise a loaded term for some. It can sound nagging to
us—like an alarm clock at 4 AM. Many pastors and writers talk about
accountability but few Christians actually have an accountability partner. And
small groups are often too large to facilitate the kind of sharing needed to
really hold another person accountable to their commitments to Christ. I
believe that the simple term “accountable” may make people balk at the
relationship. It may feel to heavy for you or others
to enter into it.
If you can’t picture yourself with an accountability partner
or a spiritual director in your life I want to encourage you to go and get
yourself a life editor. Here’s what
it looks like:
First, start by being humble and realizing you make mistakes. This is the starting point to growth. You
might claim that you are humble about your life—but until you really open
yourself up to some change there’s still some pride in the way. Then find a
second pair of eyes. Life-editing is just a matter of getting a second opinion
other than your own on things. Too often we trust our own judgment and forget
that we have blind spots. A life-editor is your second pair of eyes on your
life choices, habits, desires and spiritual growth. You’ll also need to sop
sending out “read only” signals. These days you can save a document as “read
only” on your computer. That way no one else can change things. Stop sending
that kind of signal with your life-editor. Tell them, “Open it up and change
what you think needs to change.” Let
your life editor “reply with changes.” Today you can also send back a document
with changes to the original person that sent it to you. This is what the
life-editor can do for you. They’re just
making constructive suggestions on what to improve on, what to alter and what
to enhance. Keep tweaking together. The most important thing is to meet
regularly and keep on tweaking with your life-editor. Don’t get in a rut of
“letting each other off the hook.” Find ways to keep tweaking your lives—to
keep editing until you’re getting where you want to go spiritually.
By recruiting a life-editor for your spiritual walk you’ll
have more confidence that you’re actually following up with the things you
really want to be doing and becoming.
Instead of just living life on “rough draft” mode you start to actually
have an edited life that’s a little more what you and Jesus Christ have in
mind.
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© 2006 by David Drury
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