Personal development is a very broad topic and can encompass anything that involves your transformation as a person. It means becoming the best you can be and reaching towards your potential. When you become a ‘better’ person than you were yesterday (this does not mean better than another person) your life and its circumstances improve. This is usually achieved by looking internally and then changing the way you act externally. Accomplishing such a challenging assignment requires growing in the understandment of what it means to be a Christian. Taking what I learn by expanding my personal knowledge of biblical truth and applying daily things that I learn. Through the presence of His indwelling Spirit, God enables me to know, obey, and serve Him. God expects His children to grow spiritually and His Word encourages personal examination as an element of growth. This Personal Development Project can help me complete an examination and carefully search within my spiritual growth. The project will help me carefully think about my spiritual development related to six specific spiritual disciplines; abiding in Christ, living in the Word, praying in faith, fellowshipping with believers, witnessing to the world, and ministering to others. This development will take course over a period of six days. Practicing the above one each day. Not only is this a school project but is also designed to help me reach important life goals and to live a life that honors God. This will be a cumalitive process that entails seeking God’s will for my life, setting life goals consistent with that will, developing a strategic plan to pursue those life goals, and habitually tracking my progress toward my goals. Much of this is straight forward and fun to do, but seldom do most people take the time to formally tackle these tasks because of our frenetic, over extended lives. Like other types of planning we do in life like planning a wedding, planning a vacation, financial planning, and so on. Creating a Personal Development Plan will maximize my chances of gaining the results I am seeking. (Fares)
Abide in Christ
1) I practiced a regular quiet time and looked forward to that time with Christ
2) When making choices, I seek Christ’s guidance first.
3) My relationship with Christ is motivated more by love than duty or fear.
4) I experience life change as a result of my worship experiences
5) When God makes me aware of His specific will in an area of my life, I will follow His leading.
6) I believe Christ provides the only way for a relationship with God.
7) My actions demonstrate a desire to build God’s kingdom rather than my own.
8) Peace, contentment, and joy characterize my life rather than worry and anxiety.
9) I trust Christ to help me through any problem or crisis I face.
10) I remain confident of God’s love and provision during difficult times.
Tuesday, March 8
Live in the Word
1) I regularly read and study my Bible.
2) I believe the Bible is God’s Word and provides His instructions for life.
3) I evaluated cultural ideas and lifestyles by biblical standards.
4) I try to answer questions about life and faith from a biblical perspective.
5) I replaced impure or inappropriate thoughts with God’s truth.
6) When the Bible exposes an area of my life needing change, I respond to make things right.
7) I use the Bible as the guide for the way I think and act.
8) I study the Bible for the purpose of discovering truth for daily living.
Wednesday, March 9
Prayer in Faith
1) My prayers focus on discovering God’s will more than expressing my needs.
2) I trust God to answer when I pray and wait patiently on His timing.
3) My prayers include thanksgiving, praise, confession, and requests.
4) I expect to grow in my prayer life and intentionally seek help to improve.
5) I spend as much time listening to God as I do talking to Him.
6) I pray because I am aware of my complete dependence on God for everything in my life.
7) I maintain an attitude of prayer throughout each day.
8) I believe my prayers impact my life and the lives of others.
9) I engage in a daily prayer time.
Thursday, March 10
Fellowship with believers
1) I forgive others when their actions harm me.
2) I admit my errors in relationships and humbly seek forgiveness from the one I have hurt.
3) I allow other Christians to hold me accountable for spiritual growth.
4) I seek to live in harmony with other members of my family.
5) I place the interest of others above my self interest.
6) I am gentle and kind in my interactions with others.
7) I encourage and listen to feedback from others to help me discover areas for relationship growth.
8) I show patience in my relationships with family and friends.
9) I encourage others by pointing out their strengths rather than their weaknesses.
10) My time commitments demonstrate that I value relationships over work, career, and hobbies.
Friday, March 11
Witnessing to the world
1) I share my faith in Christ with non believers.
2) I regularly pray for non believers I know.
3) I make my faith known to my neighbors
4) I intentionally maintain relationships with non believers in order to share my testimony.
5) When confronted about my faith, I remain consistent and firm in my testimony.
6) I help others understand how to effectively share a personal testimony.
7) I make sure the people I witness to get the follow up and support needed to grow in Christ.
8) I encourage my church and friends to support mission efforts.
Saturday, March 12
Minister to Others
1) I understand my spiritual gifts and use those gifts to serve others.
2) I serve others expecting nothing in return.
3) I sacrificed my finances to help others in my church and community.
4) I go out of my way to show love to people I meet.
5) I share biblical truth with those I serve as God gives opportunity.
6) I act as if other’s needs are as important as my own.
7) I contribute time to a ministry at Church.
8) I help others identify ministry gifts and become involved in ministry.
At the end of the week, I reflected on the tasks I put forth. Some were easy while others were very challenging, but if everything was easy in life no one would ever learn anything. One of the hard tasks I encountered was forgiving people when they do harm to me. Emotions do fall into this category and at times I was very angry. Another challenge was sacrificing my own funds to help others in my church. This is hard for anyone, especially in this bad economy. The funny thing is; that the money was returned and with extra. By far, the hardest task is witnessing to others. Not everyone is going to accept the facts without giving some sort of a hard time. People have questions and if you can not answer them. It makes it very difficult to convert or even persuade a willing ear. The easy things like reading the Bible more and praying gave me more insightfulness and knowledge. I completed each one of the tasks written. I am very pleased that I did this Personal Development Project. I am more willing to talk more people and it is easier to share my testimony. I will continue to pray, read the Bible, and witness to others. As John and Patrice Robson put it, “If we want something to change, we need to be clear about what we want. Then we need to make it happen.”