Check it Before you Wreck it

You're tuned into Made for Mondays with Justin Lester. Justin Lester is an average guy who refuses to let Mondays control him. Justin is a husband, dad, pastor, student, and Jesus follower. He's done a lot, he's learned a lot, and he wants to see you at your best. Let's win Mondays. Hey, Justin. What's up today?

Well, hey, everyone. Justin here. Welcome to Made for Mondays. I pray you guys are having a great, great beginning to your day. So whether you're in your car, whether you're in your house, whether you in your office, whether you were just getting to your office, whether you're in your home office or still in bed, in your PJs, wherever you are, you were made for this. As I was contemplating on what to talk about, I wanted to engage in two things that I believe come together very well. The first statement is the statement, check it before you wreck it. Check it before you wreck it. The second statement is having difficult conversations, but not difficult in terms of really finding some sort of difficult space, but having difficult conversations in terms of really speaking up before you go down. So the first thing, check it before you wreck it. What are the things in your life that you are really desiring to do, really desiring to engage in? The places, the people, the relationships that you're holistically desiring to engage in that you have not checked? The underlying motivations? What really is motivating you to make this week great? Is it the attention of other people? Is it the relationships you want with others? Is it clout? I want you to name your motivations this week. Check them before they wreck you. The wrong motivation can put you in the wrong tables. The wrong relationships. There's this old story, and the story really my own life, where one day I was driving through North Dakota and we were driving up to some mountains. As we were driving through North Dakota, we got to a place in the northern part of North Dakota. It was snowing. It had already snowed. And there was a sign that said, be careful which rut you choose because you'll be in it for the next 20 miles. It made me think of, when it comes to our motivations, we just, we pick a rut, we pick a side, we pick a road that we get into. And I want you to make sure you check the road you're getting in before you drive down the wrong road and get to the wrong space. The ruts are going to leave you someplace. The ruts are nothing more than frozen mud, frozen over. That literally once your tires get in it, you are stuck in that rut. Be careful what you choose, because what you choose will drive you. What are your motivations? What's motivating you to go to work today? What's motivating you to create relationships today? What's motivating you to talk to certain people? And if you know their unhealthy motivations, you know they're negative motivations. If you're simply motivated to talk to a co worker because of what they can get you. If you're motivated to engage with someone because you want to have vengeance against someone else, I want you to check your motivations before your motivations wreck you. My own personal life, that's something I've been wrestling with the past couple of months. And I've personally pulled myself away from some tables and away from some areas and places and people simply because I had to recognize my motivation behind relationship was not whole. My motivation behind relationship was to use them to get someplace. And that's never a whole motivation because eventually your motivations will be revealed. And if your motivations are shaky, before you engage in something, your motivations won't keep you there because they're not whole, solid foundational motivations. So check your motivations before your motivations wreck you. Then secondly, speak up before you go down. Here's what I mean by that. The reason I want you to speak up before you go down is that speaking up allows you to vocally, intentionally say your mind. Last week I was cleaning our house, and I was taking down some fencing. And I was taking down some fencing. And while I had my gloves on, my gloves had a rip, and I didn't notice it. And a little splinter got under my finger. And it got under my finger. You know, the side right by the fingernail where it meets the skin on the side of your finger. So it's the worst place and the hardest place. And Muhammad Ali said, it's not the mountain that stops you, it's the pebble in your shoe. This little splinter got right under my fingernail, and it hurt, y'. All. I spent all week trying to get that little splinter out, and here's why. That little splinter, over the course of time in the wrong place at the wrong time, can lead to something a lot bigger in my hand. My finger gets infected, My hand gets infected. My arm gets infected. And now because of a simple little splinter I didn't remove, now I'm having to do something with my entire arm. A lot of our conversations and a lot of the conflict we endure because we had unhealthy motivations as well are little splinters that we don't confront. The ways that someone talk to you, the ways that someone engaged with you, the way that someone said something to you and without confronting the splinter, it leads to then having the whole arm infected. The same principle goes with eating too many sweets. They're really, really good until you get a cavity. If you don't check the cavity now, you're down for major surgery. What are the small splinters that need you to speak up and remove them this week? Maybe it's the undertone that somebody had in an email that you never really vocalized, but it's been bothering you. Talk to them about it. Maybe it's the ways that someone didn't invite you to lunch or did invite you to lunch. Maybe it's the relationships you have and you don't want to go with them. Maybe it's the ways that people have engaged with you and talk with you. You're not soft. I want to show you that your skin is so thick that you're willing to confront the small things before small things become big things. I'd rather you spend your time, whether from home or in person, removing the little things that don't matter. The little things that hurt, the little things that get under your skin before they become major infections where now someone's getting fired, someone's moving. You're quitting a job, you're moving relationships, you're getting rid of people. I want you to check those small things and speak up before you go down. So what's our points of purpose today? What's our points of power? How can we move forward into this week? Made for Monday. Knowing and checking our motivations and also speaking up before we step down. Number one, what is driving you this week? What is driving you? If you're sitting in the passenger seat, what's in your driver's seat? Say hi to the driver. That's the first point. Say hi to the driver. Is that driver speaking back to you? Does that driver have your best interest in mind? Say hi to the driver. What is driving you this week? Say hi to the driver. What is that conversation? If your trauma is driving you, you probably need to get out that car. If your past is driving you, you probably need to jump out of the car. If your future is driving you, then you probably need to stay there and keep talking to it and finding out more about it. If present relationships are driving you, keep talking to it to see the motivations behind it. Say hi to your driver. As your driver is leading you. Say hi to the driver and engage in conversation with what's driving you. Write down the things that are motivating you and pushing you to be all that you believe that you're called to be and that God is calling you to be. Say hi to the driver number two. Embrace your triggers. Embrace what's bothering you. Embrace what's agitating you. Embrace what's keeping you up. Embrace what's engaging with your emotions. Embrace your triggers. Having difficult conversations or sometimes triggering conversations where something is triggering you, something agitates something inside of you. And this individual, this person doesn't even know. But now they become the person, the representation of your trigger. Embrace your triggers so that you can heal from them, you can correct them before those triggers come out and end up ruining you. Embrace your triggers. And thirdly, here's the point of purpose. Live because life is grabbing a hold of you. The reason you're made for Monday so much is because there's life inside of you. There's purpose inside of you and there's power inside of you. Live this week. You are worth the life. You are worth the purpose. You are. You are worth the future. A couple of weeks ago, I had a very, very terrible, terrible Wednesday. I was up till 3 o' clock in the morning and I was wrestling and I was talking back and forth with my therapist, really at three o' clock in the morning. And I told her for the first time when I woke up the next day, I told her, I said, you know, that night was the first time I let myself live. It was the first time I gave myself a chance to live all my life. And you guys have heard me talk about mental well being before. All my life I've been telling myself I'm not worth a life. I'm ready, I should die. I shouldn't be around, I shouldn't be alive. No one loves telling myself that for years. And that day was the first time I gave myself the license to live. Live this week. You are worth the life. Go forth, be prosperous, be powerful and be all that you know God has called you to be. Let's say our affirmation and let's go on about our Mondays. Repeat after me. Say I am me. I can be me. No one will stop me from being me. Have a wonderful, wonderful Monday. You were made for this.

This has been Made for Mondays with Justin Lester. Be sure to follow Justin online at MrJlester and online at www.jlester.com. see you next week. Go win. You were made for this.