Happy New Year

The start of another year.

Today is my first day back in the office for 2010. Full of optimistic enthusiasm! So in the interests of making sure we don’t enter 2010 full of ourselves but remain filled with the Spirit of God, here are some tips on how to avoid becoming pharisaical that came from Mike Raiter (Principal of the Bible College of Victoria) at last week’s Church Missionary Society Summer School in Katoomba.

1. Keep on teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ as it comes to us in the Scriptures.

2. Annually visit a ‘heart specialist’ – someone who knows and loves you and will be honest with you. Ask them two questions

a. Do you think I am willing to receive criticism?

b. What do I need to hear from you that others won’t tell me?

3. Practice humility – not by thinking less of yourself but by ‘thinking of yourself less’ (C.S. Lewis?); remember that you can’t be arrogant when you stand beside the cross of Jesus.

4. Remember that the only heart you see is your own, so don’t impute bad motives to others.

5. Regularly survey your bank statements and check how generous you’ve actually been (we tend to overestimate our generosity when we guess).

6. Pray prayers of confession regularly.

7. Be an encourager of others.