Grace & Humility — The Heart of an effective life

I am one hundred percent convinced that amidst all of our desires to be more productive and more effective, we often miss what is at the very heart of it all. At the heart of it all is not our productivity system or our apps. It’s not how we manage our tasks, our projects and our calendar. It isn’t our vision or our values or our goals. These things are important, but they are not the heart of it.

I am one hundred percent convinced that at the heart of it all are grace and humility.

We start all of this with grace and with humility. Why? Some of the reasons below will seem a little odd if you aren’t a Christian, but most of them are, I believe, applicable to all of us.

Because:

Without grace we have no hope and no salvation

• Without humility we cannot accept them

Without grace we cannot pray

• Without humility we will not pray

Without grace, God would not speak His Word

• Without humility we cannot listen

Without grace, godliness is both impossible and it is futile

• Without humility, my own rules will always reign

Without grace, we would know nothing of real love

• Without humility we will love only ourselves

Without grace, we cannot learn and we cannot grow

• Without humility we will not

Without grace we would have nothing with which to serve others

• Without humility, we would serve only ourselves.

But — without grace we are proud and can never be truly humble, therefore it all starts with grace.

Grace leads us to humility and together they lead us to an effective life that is lived to the goal of serving and loving others, a life of growth and learning.