Building a Firm Foundation
I love interior design. I love placing beautiful artwork and decorations in just the right places. I love lighting the perfect scented candle and pulling up a cozy blanket. With a little attention and an eye for detail, you can make any space look beautiful and inviting. However, no matter how great my interior design skills are, they are wasted if the room I am dressing has walls that are cracking and foundations that are fractured.
Often in life, we can spend so much time and attention on the aesthetics of our story and completely neglect the foundations on which we build our authenticity. It says in Matthew 7 24 that a wise man builds his house on a rock - ‘the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.’
Sometimes, we need to put the paintbrush down and instead pick up the shovel. We have to stop decorating and start digging.
A marriage that is well dressed but poorly built won’t stand. A friendship that is based on where you agree will not remain when you face disagreements. Too often, we over-invest in what won’t last and avoid doing the work that will stand the test of time.
Every great business, relationship, and family has to be built on firm foundations, with a solid investment. This year, it’s time to stop adding more decor to your life and instead start digging deeper. You don’t need any more fair-weather friends, you need friends
who are not put off by the flaws that need fixing. You need friends who want to take the conversation from aesthetic to authentic.
This month, maybe you can become less concerned with the fixtures and fittings of your world and commit afresh to the foundations. Maybe this year you won’t end up with as many pretty spaces to show off to others, but instead, you will have discovered a new strength in the structure of how your life is being built, and therefore you will give an even greater gift of integrity and security to all those who journey with you.
