We have all heard the importance of living a balanced life. It is certainly true. When we become imbalanced, we are skewed disproportionately so that we do not function properly in the various areas of life.

Leading a balanced life sounds good, but it can also seem impossible to achieve. Life gets busy and with the daily tasks of work, family and other duties trying to maintain a modicum of balance becomes daunting. In response, people often throw themselves into more things in an effort to achieve a sense of success only to create more imbalance.

When the stresses and strains of life become overwhelming, it is necessary to step back to take stock. We live in a world of “busy,” but busy can be deceptive. Busy is not the same thing as productive. It is in the busyness of life through which we become imbalanced. This deceives us into thinking we’re accomplishing a great deal, but in the process we can also be missing out on some of the most important aspects of life.

I am reminded of the time when Jesus visited the home of His friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Luke 10:38-42 records the moment…
Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

When Jesus visited the home of these three siblings, people packed in to hear Him speak. Martha, wanting to be a good host, quickly started serving food to accommodate her guests. She became overwhelmed with the pressure of making sure everyone was served. Her sister Mary, on the other hand, was sitting at Jesus’ feet clinging to His every word. The frustration of the moment caused Martha to interrupt Jesus and demand that He ask Mary to get up to help her. Martha did not receive the response she anticipated. Jesus responded by saying – “Martha, you are troubled about many things, but Mary has chosen the good part.”

Martha demonstrated how the stress of being busy can easily create imbalance in life. While Martha was busy serving natural food to her guests, Mary was receiving the eternal bread of life from Jesus. Martha had been given a rare opportunity for Jesus to be in her home, but she was too busy to appreciate the moment. She too could have sat at Jesus’ feet to receive from Him and served food to her guests after Jesus concluded.

Here in lies the problem with imbalance — it causes us to miss key moments in life that could be more beneficial than the busy work that keeps us distracted.

This is a topic we must give attention to in order to maximize our productivity, while taking advantage of key moments that make life richer and more fulfilling. In the busyness of life it is difficult to balance every moment of every day. However, there are some major aspects we must keep in mind to create healthy balance.

I want to highlight 5 areas in 2025 that will help create balance…

5-F’s


FAITH

Developing a strong faith in God is the cornerstone of life. We must remember that faith is more than believing God and following the Lord in a general sense. Faith is action. We must develop a living faith for we and our families.

We live out our faith as disciples of Jesus by being willing to pay the cost of commitment that true discipleship requires!

We live out our faith as disciples of Jesus by being willing to pay the cost of commitment that true discipleship requires. This means we keep our spiritual life and church life as top priorities. Today’s busy world is pulling people away from church and preventing them from making strong commitments. This demonstrates an imbalance that reveals how disconnected our spiritual claims can become from our spiritual habits. Life with Jesus requires doing life with His disciples. This is where church becomes an essential component to our spiritual development. In 2025, let’s develop our Faith by making a renewed commitment to God’s word, to prayer and to our fellow disciples through church life.

FAMILY

One of the greatest gifts God gives us are our families. God has always had a family focus. The stark reality is life is short. It is of the utmost importance that we cherish and make proper use of every moment we have with our families and children. Our children are our legacy.

When life is over, it will not be how much overtime we worked or what we acquired that will carry on our legacy. Our legacy will be the children who bear our name.

When life is over, it will not be how much overtime we worked or what we acquired that will carry on our legacy. Our legacy will be the children who bear our name. For this reason, we cannot allow being busy to prevent us from investing in family bonds. The trappings of life can create such imbalance that we inadvertently become public successes, while becoming domestic failures. We want to come to the end of our lives with cherished memories rather than regrets of neglect. This can be easily prevented by prioritizing family life. In 2025, let’s build Family bonds by taking the time to create moments and memories that will last a lifetime.

FINANCE

There are two aspects of life that will impact us whether we are interested in them or not – Health and Finances. Human nature has a tendency to live in the moment without thinking of the future. This is certainly true in the area of finance. It is easy to get caught in the consumer mentality by spending money in the present, while not considering how it will impact our future. This is why it is critical to develop a financial plan that will strengthen our present and secure our future. We have a responsibility to be good stewards of the resources with which God has blessed us. Financial success starts first with honoring God with our money.

No one can serve God and money, but godly people serve God with their money!

No one can serve God and money, but godly people serve God with their money. The second step is to properly save and invest so that we put the power of compounding interest to work for us. Thirdly, it is vital to develop a budget that controls spending so that we create more cash flow. These are basic steps that will put us on a secure financial footing. In 2025, let’s make it a point to become students of Finance so that we are empowered for financial freedom.

FITNESS

Health is the greatest form of wealth. As believers, it is important to place our trust in the healing power of God, but it is also important to value our health. Health is our responsibility and that is why fitness is a crucial aspect to living a balanced life. When people reach the age of 50 and beyond, two things typically happen – 1) muscle mass declines more rapidly each year and 2) chronic diseases set in. This occurs as a result of years of neglect that accumulates in our bodies as we get older. These issues can be mitigated through healthy diet and exercise. No one would knowingly put bad gasoline or oil in his or her vehicle. Yet, people do not consider that food is fuel to our bodies. Therefore, we are either fueling our bodies with healthy food or harmful food that leads to poor results. The fact is our bodies were made to move. It is imperative to develop an exercise routine that keeps us active.

In life we must choose “our hard.” The choice we make will have a direct impact on our health!

Allowing ourselves to get out of shape and over weight is hard. It is also hard to fight to be fit. In life we must choose “our hard.” The choice we make will have a direct impact on our health. In 2025, let’s prioritize Fitness by changing our relationship with food and making time to exercise.

FUN

Life inherently comes with the burden of responsibilities. This burden can become the source of heaviness and frustration. This is why it is important to develop outlets for fun. Time passes so quickly that we can unintentionally rob ourselves from enjoying the journey along the way. The lure of busyness tells us that we must keep working to gain more success.

It is a gift from God for a man to eat, drink and enjoy the fruit of his labor!

The danger comes when we never stop to enjoy our accomplishments. The scripture tells us that it is a gift from God for a man to eat, drink and enjoy the fruit of his labor (Ecclesiastes 3:13). Fun activities create a sense of enjoyment that will renew and empower us for future endeavors. We can foster this sense of fun by developing new hobbies, exploring new activities, traveling to new places, etc. In 2025, let’s plan on finding more ways to enjoy having more Fun.

Prioritizing these 5 areas will be the building blocks for a balanced and fruitful 2025!