Words of Wisdom

with Pastor Alphonze

IMPETUS – What Drives you

For anything  to be actualized, action is required. Action calls for motion.

Impetus precipitates motion. Impetus, therefore, is WHAT DRIVES YOU.

In 2 Peter 1:21 the bible says “Holy men spoke as they were MOVED by the Holy Spirit.“

There is a propensity of being moved by a variety of things; God, love, pressure, sin, ambition, or competition – just to name a few. We can compartmentalize all these into three categories:

• Needs

• Wants

• Values

Direction and decision making in life are governed by these three.

• Needs are the essentials in life, food, clothing, and shelter. We can also add the desire to be affirmed, recognized, celebrated, and accepted.
• Wants are the things we desire which are not necessary.
• Values are the core beliefs and deep-seated convictions in our hearts.

Every movement generates some kind of friction, our response will either be need-driven or value-led.

When your impetus is needs-driven rather than value-led, satisfaction and fulfillment are not guaranteed, but rather a sense of “I’ve got to do this and have that no matter what“. This is not rooted in peace, it comes from a place of unrest. Need-driven actions will make you do things for the sole purpose of getting other peoples attention and approval, overriding values and morals, constantly missing what it means to have a clear purpose.

When Jesus finished his forty day fast he was hungry. The devil came to him and told him to turn the stones into bread. Jesus’ response to the temptation was a big NO. His value of only obeying God was much bigger than his need of eating. He was value driven.

We should be led by core values that are ultimately influenced by God’s word and His Spirit inside us,  rather than be driven by our unmet needs. Core values have an ethical component, moral component, and spiritual component.

Being need driven robs us of clarity of purpose. Clarity of purpose brings clarity of vision which in turn creates intention which ultimately brings direction.

Value – Purpose – Vision – Intention -Direction merge together in that flow.

This past memorial weekend we celebrated, honored and remembered the lives of the men and women who served and gave their lives for the love of the country. They were Patriots.

They made a decision to enlist and be deployed to dangerous foreign lands away from their families to defend the freedom of their country. They valued America more, they were value led.

John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.“

There has to be a fundamental shift in our minds, from the paradigm of being need driven to being value led, led by our core values our deep convictions and beliefs

Every day, may we purpose that our Impetus be value-led.