-Cat Coyle
Growing up, math was easily my least favorite subject. In the 6th grade I had a teacher named Mrs. Craybell who we called Mrs. Cranky or Mrs. Crazy- whatever we were feeling that day. I dreaded going to her class because she would constantly tell me “You’ve lost your cheerios” anytime I would give a wrong answer- yeah super encouraging.
That was until we did percentages. I hated everything else about this subject but there was something that clicked with me and it was all because of the pie chart. This tool was a game changer for me!! It took something that could have been really complex and made it simple. To get the big picture answer that I wanted, I had to examine the problem piece by piece. And once I figured out what the pieces were made up of, the total was much easier to understand.
What if the same was true of our spiritual lives? We hear the phrase, make Christ the center and we see it in the scriptures but sometimes it feels like an intangible thing that only the super spiritual can do. We read about Paul saying things like “for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain “ (Philippians 1:21) and want the same to be true of us, but aren’t even sure where to begin.
I want to offer a suggestion, that just like I learned with percentages- we look piece by piece in order to understand the whole. And the best news is, we are going to do it with a pie chart too. Grab a sheet of paper or a journal to be able to write it down for yourself.
In the pie chart above, take a minute and think through all of the main areas of what you give your time to and put those things in each of the slices. Maybe some of your pie slices are your sorority or fraternity, friends, a boyfriend or girlfriend, your family, school, netflix or social media, and maybe you would even give God a full slice in there. Distribute the areas as honestly as you can- not just putting what you should put but what you actually spend your time on. Now, circle the top three that you would say get the majority of your time.
And finally, fill in the middle circle with what
gets the absolute most of your time.
Now, I want you to do the exact same thing on this chart- but this time fill in the center circle with Christ no matter what you would say most of your time goes to.
I know, the chart doesn’t look all that much different. But in reality, that one change makes a world of difference. This is what it means to have Christ at the center of your life. Not that our entire life is lived cut off from the world and lived in a spiritual bubble but that the way we live is daily influenced by Christ. He is holding every other piece together and He is in every single piece. He is in your schoolwork as you sit down and ask him to be honored as you work, He is in your relationship as you choose to look to the other person’s needs above your own, and He is in your greek house as you actively try to tell others about Him. He is no longer just a slice of the pie, but the center.
Galatians 2:20 describes this process perfectly, “For I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me".
For the rest of the week, we will continue to read about what God’s word says to have Christ at the Center. Let’s also spend time praying through these pie charts you have made and ask for the second chart to become what is true about us. Because of what Jesus did, Christ lives in us and wants nothing more than to be at our center.