If I'm going to spend 31 days writing about "margin," it might be helpful to start things out by figuring out what "margin" means. When I first wrote about margin, I had in the back of my mind a sermon series by Andy Stanley about margin called "Take it to the limit," which I listened to years ago.
I re-listened to the first message yesterday, and here is how Andy defines margin:
The amount available beyond what's actually needed.
The space between our current performance and our limits.
If you're running, could you run faster? If not, you're running at your limit, and you have no "margin."
Let's just say, I absolutely could not be running any faster. I am at my limit emotionally, with my schedule, with our finances, work, parenting . . . you name it and I'm juggling it with no margin for error.
And Andy says that living without margins forces you to be self-centered, because you are constantly thinking about what's next and how close you are to the edge. And I for sure don't desire to be self-centered, for those around me never to feel like they have my full attention. So how do I fix that? How do I find margin? And why? And what does that look like?
A few more quick notes from the first message:
-Relationships depend on our ability to create margin.
-We can't say "no" because we are living out of fear not faith.
-Our culture pushes us to the limit and God invites us away from the edge.
-As margins narrow, so does our relationship with Jesus.
-We will live within limits no matter what, so why don't we surrender it and let God lead us to a life of margin.
This is day 2 of 31 days of margin. Read more from 31ers.
The amount available beyond what's actually needed.
The space between our current performance and our limits.
If you're running, could you run faster? If not, you're running at your limit, and you have no "margin."
Let's just say, I absolutely could not be running any faster. I am at my limit emotionally, with my schedule, with our finances, work, parenting . . . you name it and I'm juggling it with no margin for error.
And Andy says that living without margins forces you to be self-centered, because you are constantly thinking about what's next and how close you are to the edge. And I for sure don't desire to be self-centered, for those around me never to feel like they have my full attention. So how do I fix that? How do I find margin? And why? And what does that look like?
A few more quick notes from the first message:
-Relationships depend on our ability to create margin.
-We can't say "no" because we are living out of fear not faith.
-Our culture pushes us to the limit and God invites us away from the edge.
-As margins narrow, so does our relationship with Jesus.
-We will live within limits no matter what, so why don't we surrender it and let God lead us to a life of margin.