Our priorities define us. What we regard as most important gets our attention first. You can easily discover someone's values by what they prioritize. And what we prioritize controls our lives whether or not we realize it.
Perhaps you've missed the mark, walked in compromise, or tolerated sinful behavior. Now is not the time to despair or see it as the end. As long as you wake up each morning, you have another chance to do right by God. Consider David, a man described as "a man after God's heart." He messed up repeatedly and in significant ways, but God kept forgiving him and granting him another chance at the kingdom.
When we cultivate the habit of counting our blessings, joy becomes our constant companion, sustaining us through every season. If we spend our days counting our blessings, we will live all our days in joy.
Results in the kingdom don't come through striving but through spiritual alignment. This alignment is not an "I did this and therefore do that for me" performative religion. It is surrendering all the parts of our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Surrender is the only way to be saved from hell, marital problems, poverty, sickness, and all evils that sin brought.
Sadly, just as a dirty plate cannot be used to serve food to guests, a defiled or unclean person—one entangled with the affairs of the flesh—is not useful in the hands of Master Jesus.
The prerequisite for usefulness in the kingdom is to rid yourself of evil behaviour that is unbecoming for a Christian. Without character, God cannot use you effectively because your own bad habits will become saboteurs, undermining the very work He has called you to do.
