Temporal

The victory goes to the light in your eyes.



There are plenty of Bible verses that tell people to stop living in the temporal and to start focusing on the eternal.  In St. Paul's case, eternal refers to the Lord's work, where loving others and doing good to them will not only benefit them now, it will also pay off for the doer in the future.  I am a fine failure in the area of looking towards the future, my life is so set in the here and now that every effort I give must see results as in almost immediately.  Instant gratification, I'm sure everyone has heard the term before and for some set people, the words don't even apply to them.  But it's a curse to this generation; those who want the rewards as quick as the service.  Our minds are on an even more limited basis then the churches that St. Paul was writing to.

Temporal is a word used to describe anything temporary, things such as feelings, desires, or even life.  Eternal is used to describe God, love, and ideas- all things that are good.  Those are the things we should focus on.  Today, these words seem so simple and have been given a new meaning to me.  I guess I get overwhelmed a lot,  I start thinking about how much I will have to put forth in my life to truly reach the potential I feel I can.  I do this and I get scared.  It would take a lot of effort, a lot of time, a life lived without instant gratification would feel dry and painful.  I'm still scared to think about it honestly.  I'm so scared to write about how to make my life better and then force myself to actually go out and do it.  If there is ever anything that I know I need to do, I keep my mouth shut about it far too often. 

The church Paul was writing to was focusing too much on life in general.  Providing for their families, working for food day by day; not focusing on God and also not doing good things that needed to be done.  Good things not just to better their life, but to better the life of the people around them.  They were focused on working towards a goal:  it was delayed gratification, but temporal nonetheless.  It's a lifestyle the more "mature" in this world fall into, yes, their own selfishness is not necessarily the primary goal anymore but it is certainly a major player.  What if we were to act solely out of who we could be?  No focus on payoff or return or reaction, but just being with one hundred percent of who we are.  Fear comes in to play doesn't it?  We become afraid we are wasting time doing things of no importance, or we feel we are interfering with someone else's life.  Yes, we are to choose a direction we are to go, but what if that direction is toward God?  Toward doing every good thing that is prepared before you?  Your life would not be lived for time, because time means nothing, reward means nothing- all that matters is that good has been done, the Godly has been shown!

There is nothing of less importance than perpetuating the worthless.  And if all is temporary, then nothing really has any importance.  What dies is dead, regardless of the life it had.  So live your life to find that motivation that comes from knowing what is good and eternal and doing it, regardless of your temporary self.