{"id":69829,"date":"2024-09-16T19:08:50","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T00:08:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=69829"},"modified":"2024-09-16T19:08:50","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T00:08:50","slug":"my-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-time\/","title":{"rendered":"My Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by Chadwick Brewer<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;<em>And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?<\/em>&#8221; (Matthew 6:27).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Time-1-225x300.avif\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/>One of my biggest self-deceptions is that my time is my own. I often feel and act as if I am the rightful owner of 24 hours each day. The truth is, my time is not my own. Whatever time I have is a gift from God. I cannot create it, nor can I, by any measure of strength or desire, hold on to a moment to make it last longer. Time passes over and by me without my permission. It is a delusion to think my time is mine. Time belongs to God, and He gifts me the time I have.<\/p>\n<p>When I act as if my time is my own, I can feel extraordinarily generous when giving a small fraction of it to others or very hostile and begrudging towards those who take my time. This delusion becomes a stumbling block, leading to both pride and resentment. It fosters worry and concern that I will not have the time I need &#8211; or, more accurately, the time I want.<\/p>\n<p>Since time is a gift, I must ask myself, &#8220;What is this time (which is not my own) given to me for?&#8221; Selfishly, I&#8217;d like to answer, &#8220;For me and my pleasures.&#8221; Yet, as a servant of God and others, perhaps I should recognize that it is a gift meant to be used for others. In this way, this gift and blessing can also become a blessing to others. How much more meaningful could my time be if I recognized it as a gift to be used to bless others?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Chadwick Brewer &#8220;And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?&#8221; (Matthew 6:27). One of my biggest self-deceptions is that my time is my own. I often feel and act as if I am the rightful owner of 24 hours each day. The truth is, my&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[514,1434],"class_list":["post-69829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-time","tag-time-management"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21083,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-tell-a-friend-that-benny-hinn-cannot-heal-her-blind-child\/","url_meta":{"origin":69829,"position":0},"title":"How do I tell a friend that Benny Hinn cannot heal her blind child?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I know a person who has a blind child.\u00a0 This person wants to take her child to Benny Hinn because she believes her son will be healed through him.\u00a0 I know this is not true, but I need Scripture to back it up.\u00a0 I feel so bad for her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50153,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-keep-having-sex-because-im-looking-for-love-and-acceptance\/","url_meta":{"origin":69829,"position":1},"title":"I keep having sex because I&#8217;m looking for love and acceptance","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a mother of a teenage boy. I was traditionally married to his late father who died over a decade ago. I always find myself falling into the same sin: I cannot resist sex. I am HIV positive, and I always tell that to my partner. I am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9055,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/didnt-god-tell-someone-to-lie-in-i-kings-22\/","url_meta":{"origin":69829,"position":2},"title":"Didn&#8217;t God tell someone to lie in I Kings 22?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I appreciate your response. For me, I Kings 22:22 is abundantly clear. I found it among a few other examples, most of which were less conclusive. For example, where God sent strong delusion, which isn't specifically a lie. A tangential issue is where God repented for installing a certain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27338,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-god-want-me-to-have-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":69829,"position":3},"title":"Did God want me to have sex?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I just discovered this website today, and I had a question. There is this girl that I have fallen in love with. She is everything to me. I prayed all the time asking what I should do with her and where I should go with this. I'm very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20823,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-know-of-the-baptism-of-fire\/","url_meta":{"origin":69829,"position":4},"title":"Do you know of the baptism of fire?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you know of the baptism of fire? Answer: See:\u00a0Please explain the \"baptism of fire.\" Question: [unedited] So do you want to know how it is done?\u00a0 It has to do with following in the footsteps of Christ and the commitments you make along the way\u2026 for me I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17412,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-people-feel-like-they-lived-past-lives-because-of-demon-possession\/","url_meta":{"origin":69829,"position":5},"title":"Do people feel like they lived past lives because of demon possession?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 12, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is Matthew 12:43-45 a hint that we can have spirits enter in us and cause us to feel, think, believe or even do certain things that go against God? It's not the same as possession is it? Also, Are the people who believe in reincarnation, and feel as if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69829\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}