Being Centered

I was listening to the podcast from the Arvada Vineyard this evening. Jay was talking about centering your life in Christ. It's not something that I'm really good at. Sure, I spend time in the Word and pray, but I know that's not enough. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" NIV.

I want to be able to refresh myself each and every day and begin anew.

Granted, I'll never be able to be perfect and I know that's what His grace is for, but I certainly want to try. Different parts of my life are centered in Christ in different ways, though. The one place I KNOW that I need to work on is centering my work life in Christ. I spend entirely way too much time gossipping and thinking poorly about other people, when really I should be trying to be the best witness to Christ that I can be with my words and actions.

I'd like to do a better job centering my friendships in Christ. While I've done my fair share of praying with my friends, I think that I could do a much better job at it. We pray together every once in a while, but I want to pray together with my Christian sisters every chance I meet. It's something that needs to be a habit not an afterthought.

The same thing goes for my relationship with "Max". I want Christ to be the focus of our relationship, not just an afterthought. I want to spend quality time together in the Word and prayer so that as we keep getting to know each other, we become more familiar with who we are together in God's Word.

Most important, I want to center myself in Christ with my family. Specifically in my relationship with my mom. I get frustrated with her a lot, but I never see her for what she really is: a broken woman just like I am. I need to show Christ-like compassion, forgiveness, and grace when I'm around her and pray that she'll be healed.

All of this, of course, is much easier said than done. I need to keep challenging myself to live the most Christ-like life that I can so that I can strengthen my relationships in Him and with Him.