Choosing What Matters

She laughed again. "You know, some things don't matter that much, Lily. Like the color of a house. How big is that in the overall scheme of life? But lifting a person's heart, now that matters. The problem with people is.... they know what matters, but they don't choose it. You know how hard that is Lily?.... The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters."


Last week, I wrote about what really matters. (Check it out if you haven't read it yet.)


The quote above is from The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. That quote really struck me today. 


It kind of echoes what I wrote in last week's post- what will really matter is your experiences when you go to the grave. Here's a quote from that post:

When you die, what do you think is going to matter? How much money you earned? How many awards you earned? How many toys you had? How strong you were in the weight room? How many people you knocked down? How many petty grudges you held? What your grades were in college?

NO!

None of that stuff is going to matter. But I’ll tell you what is going to matter- how many people you helped. How many people you made contributions to. How many people you did not give up on. That’s why you will not be ashamed to die- because you know you gave up what you had to help others. That’s what matters. That you showed the love that Christ showed you.

How often do you choose things that don't matter? I know I make the mistake of choosing the wrong things instead of choosing what matters.

"Lifting a person's heart, that matters..." 

That's what matters- lifting a person's heart by showing the love Christ did when He lifted your heart.

Sometimes we choose what doesn't matter. We choose to hold onto hurt. Hold onto grudges. Hold onto bitterness. Hold on to anger. Hold on to the past. Hold on to possessions. Hold on to people we may be infatuated with. 

But do you get it- NONE of those matter! Shake them off! LET. THEM. GO. 

When you die, do you really think you're going to sit and think, "I'm so glad I chose to hold onto that grudge for so many years. It really helped me."

"I'm so glad I was bitter toward someone else who could have really used my help. That made me feel so good about myself."

"I'm so glad I valued my iPod and my iPhone more than I valued someone else who needed my help."

"I'm so glad I was angry at so and so for so long because it made his/her life so much harder. That was delightful."

Those things are ridiculous! Unless you are really evil at heart, I doubt those thoughts are going to come racing through your head.

But what you are going to sit and think, is

"I am so glad I chose to lift the hearts of.... because I was blessed, and my own heart was lifted when I helped those people."

"I am so glad I got to show the Gospel and the love of Christ to.... because that was what was most important in my life."

It might be hard to choose those things. But do it. It will be worth it. It's not worth clinging to something else so petty and meaningless.

Live your life with meaning. Give. Forgive. Help others. Lift up anyone's heart you can in any way you are able.