Defined Productivity

What does it mean to be productive? It’s not just about ticking off tasks but about transforming your life. Productivity, in the context of our faith, is about using your time intentionally to glorify God. If your time is not glorifying God, then you are not being productive. But what does it mean to glorify God? Let’s delve into this. Matthew 22:36-40 reads, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’ Productivity to the glory of God is about loving God and others, which is a part of loving God. To love God, you must obey His calling on your life because obedience is love. But it goes deeper than this. To be fully productive, you must love the Lord with everything. That is, think about God and His word all the time. So, productivity can be summed up as using your time to glorify God in a deep love and obedience to Him. This is the essence of productivity, and it starts with spiritual health. This is the transformative power of productivity.

Practical Productivity

Let’s look at how you can practically live out the productivity described in the previous section. To live out productivity, you must be intentional. That is, you need to plan out your day. You need to learn to use your calendar. Schedule family time. Schedule time to prepare for discipleship opportunities. Schedule time for personal devotion. Schedule time with others. Schedule your day. When you schedule time for specific things, actually do those particular things. You need to learn discipline. You must discipline yourself to do what you have scheduled when you schedule it. That will keep you from procrastination and propel you to excel in everything you do. This disciplined life will take you time to learn. You will learn when things fit best and where. That is good. Everything in life takes time to learn. You did not automatically walk when birthed. You had to learn. But it is worth your time and effort. The benefits of discipline and scheduling are immense. They empower you to take control of your time and make the most out of it, leading to a more productive and God glorifying life.

Personal Productivity

I was compelled to write this article through the second unit of my Foundations for Kingdom Success class. We were discussing productivity and it struck a chord with me. So, I began penning this article. As I was writing, I was listening to the unit’s lecture, and the importance of productivity was further emphasized. The discussion board asked, ‘What are your biggest obstacles to scheduling and productivity?,’ and, ‘How can these be overcome?’ I responded with this: ‘I feel the biggest obstacles I have found in scheduling are that I neglect to schedule time to be with my family and/or prepare. There are times when personal devotion does not make its way into my schedule because it is not on my calendar. I need to be more intentional with every area of life. I have heard it said that I need to be spiritually healthy for my family to be spiritually healthy, and my family needs to be spiritually healthy for the church I am leading to be spiritually healthy. I am only 17, so I do not yet have a family, or lead as head pastor yet, but those are two goals I have. If I am going to achieve these things that I feel God has called me to, I need to begin to implement them now. I need to schedule time for personal devotion, time to be with my family, time to disciple others, and time to prepare for bass playing, teaching, and preaching. I need to schedule time for everything. I will get home and have something on my calendar that contradicts the unspoken family time that I am supposed to be having. I don’t remember that those times are just as important as the other times on my calendar. I also struggle with productivity because I am not as intentional as I should be with my time. I need to set aside specific times to do specific things so that everything is done and no one feels abandoned or left out. I want to be able to serve others with my schedule, and I cannot do that when I do not set specific times aside to do specific things. I would be so much more productive if I did. When I have time to prepare for a sermon, I need to buckle down, focus, and prepare for the sermon, as opposed to getting sidetracked. This is yet another downfall in my productivity. If I have an hour set aside, I need to use each second to do what I am supposed to be doing. I must work to be more intentional and productive in my scheduling.’ Then I later said, ‘I would also add to this that my calendar should glorify God. In glorifying God, I will serve others to the glory of God. That is the most important facet of this question. It is most important that our calendar is saturated in glorifying God. Each moment should have a purpose, and that purpose should be to glorify God.’ This is the essence of productivity, and it starts with spiritual health. I share these struggles and insights with you not as a perfect example, but as a fellow journeyer on the path to productivity. Let’s walk this path together.

Applied Productivity

Now, let’s apply the previous writing. I will seek to be more productive, and I invite you to join me on this journey. What do you have going on? Do you have a family? Do you have responsibilities at church? What do you have going on? Do you have room for more? Answer and think about these questions. Then, schedule these things. Ephesians 5:15-16 reads, ‘Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.’ You need to be careful to walk as wise, not unwise. Therefore, be productive with me.

Resources for Further Study

Abraham Leonard

Pastoral Resident

Abraham is a high school student at Cabool High School and producer of the Live It Out Podcast. He will begin his residency at FBC Cabool this Fall. He is currently dual enrolled in Spurgeon College and pursuing a degree in ministry while preparing for his senior year of high school.