Christian singer TobyMac recently spoke on my podcast about his new album, “The Elements,” and his strong faith. There were three powerful lessons he delivered that are worth pondering as we embark on the day.
Be Intentional
Life sometimes throws us a slew of curveballs. The day-to-day grind can be enough to push us off-track and to lead us away from focusing on gratitude, faith and God’s love. TobyMac explained the importance of waking up every day and being intentional in how we live.
“To me it means waking up every morning and setting your mind on being the person you want to be, the friend you want to be, the spouse you want to me,” Toby said. “I think it’s a recommit every morning.”
Toby’s right. Here’s some insight from the Bible:
“Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day” (Ps. 25:5).
“O Lord, be gracious to us; we have waited for You. Be our strength every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble” (Isa. 33:2).
Love Matters
We’re living in an increasingly divided era, but TobyMac stressed the importance of loving one another, and finding community amid the discontent.
“When … tough times come, instead of stepping into community, now it feels like we’re isolating ourselves,” he said. “I do feel like collaboration is tougher sometimes. You have to be a little more brave, but in the end it’s worth it.”
Again, Toby is right. Jesus made it pretty clear that we’re supposed to love God and love others. Here’s Mark 12:28-31 with more on that:
One of the scribes came and heard them reasoning together. Perceiving that Jesus had answered them well, he asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”
Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is, ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Be the Person God Wants You to Be
The singer also stressed the importance of diversity, and of being the person God wants you to be. He’s hoping his new music will help his fans along this path.
“Diversity’s a beautiful thing. It enriches our lives … I hope people are inspired to step forward, to move forward,” he said. “[And] to recognize the elements, call them out for what they are and rally to remain the person that they want to be—that God has called them to be.”
I’ll leave you with my full discussion with TobyMac:
Billy Hallowell is a journalist, author and the director of communications and content for PureFlix.com. He’s also the former senior editor at Faithwire.com and the former faith and culture editor at TheBlaze.
This article originally appeared at pathufind.com.
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