Owning Our Time: Part 3 - The Discipline

We ended our last Article on a bit of a cliffhanger: How do we “take full advantage of the time given”? This may seem to be a daunting task, but if you've ever said to yourself, "I wish I had done this, or that, or had more time for this, and not spent so much time on that," then this may be exactly what you need to read.

When I became keenly aware of the time I was wasting, it was heartbreaking. I was looking specifically at the time I spent at work, but not engaged for the Gospel of Christ taking advantage of THAT time to let my light shine before those who may be lost, hurting, and in desperate need of Jesus. It was through this process of taking a Time Inventory that I started to redeem that time to serve and minister to others, but it didn't stop there. I began to take stock of my time all throughout the day, and it was both encouraging, and deeply convicting. If you want to take a similar Time Inventory, here is where I would suggest beginning:

1. Take stock of your daily time, and how it is spent

It can be a very difficult thing to look at yourself and do an honest assessment of how you spend your time. We tend to show ourselves a lot of grace with the decisions that we make, or even the reasons why we procrastinate. Maybe you've said something like, "I need a ME day," or, "I've had a hard week, and I DESERVE some chill time," or, worse yet, "What do you mean live for Jesus at work? That's no church, and it's not Sunday!" If you've said any of the above statements, perhaps you should do this Time Inventory with a friend, or if you are married, ask your Spouse to participate with you, and have them evaluate your time. Just a heads up...be prepared to fight against being defensive; let them be honest, even if it comes across as embarrassing when you are presented with just how much time you may be wasting on nothing fruitful for the Kingdom of God.

The excuse of, "I don't have time," normally falls flat on its face when we take a look at how we truly spend our time. When we do the math, we can already set aside ONE THIRD of our hours each day/year for sleeping. Then, of the two thirds remaining, HALF of that time will be spent at work. So we need to be very specific about 1) using THAT time at work to serve the Lord and represent Him, but also 2) to be very specific as to how we spend the remaining few hours that are left after sleeping and working. Also, remember that if we only serve the Lord through our church, we only give God about 312 hours a year on average. That's not a lot compared to what He has given you in Christ.

Keep on reviewing! Even after you have assessed your time, and make some of the suggested changes in the next few points, it is vital to keep reviewing yourself. Time Wasting activities are subtle, and can sneak in and rob you of your time before you realize that it is gone.

2. Prioritize appropriately

Prioritizing for a lot of people may be easy: "What do I like or what do I want to do?" Or, "What do I HAVE to do, and when is it due?" Those are the most basic means of evaluating our time, but for the follower of Christ, we have a whole different way to look at how we spend our time: is there any Eternal Value in what we are currently doing?

Things may be important, but they may not be Eternal, or have any bearing on the Kingdom of God, or our walk with the Lord. This does not make things bad, but it should make us think about some of those things to which we give time. Don't let yourself say things like, "I wish I prayed more," or, "I would like to be able to read my Bible more," especially if there are other things you give your time to that are only Temporal, with no eternal value.

As those Temporal things become aware, we can then start making some tough decisions. Are you a people pleaser? Do you struggle saying 'No' to people? Then this will be a difficult, but crucial step for you: learn to say "NO" often. By learning to look at those things in your life that have no Eternal value, and knowing how to prioritize the needs in your life, learning to say 'No' to some things so that you can say 'Yes' to others will go a long way in helping you guard your time, and spend it in a way that not only is helpful to you and your family, but will also bring Glory to God.

A good study to do is to read through the Gospels with this question in mind: How did Jesus manage His time? Take notes as to the times Jesus interrupted plans, did not meet the plans or timelines that others had pushed on Him, or when he would remove Himself from the demand of those around Him to seek time with His Heavenly Father. It will surprise you, and hopefully encourage you.

3. Make the Important things Important

Finally, decide beforehand what things will take priority over others in your life. After Paul challenges the Colossian believers to do whatever they do or say in the name of the Lord Jesus with a thankful heart (Col. 3:17), he goes on to spotlight only two spheres of life: Family and Work.

In verses 18-21 of Colossians chapter 3, Paul speaks to Wives, Husbands, Children, and Fathers. Just like we have to MAKE and TAKE time for rest, we have to make and take time for our Family. Husbands, it takes time to love your wives. Wives, it takes time to honor your husbands. Parents, it takes time to nurture and invest in your children. Children, it takes time to respect your parents and honor them (this goes for young children, and older children with aging parents). Fathers, it takes time to shepherd your family, and see to their Spiritual growth, just like we see to their physical safety, bodily healthy, and emotional security. Time is a limited resource, so we have to spend it cautiously. 

Guard with jealousy your family time. It matters that much! Keep up boundaries around specific times each week so that your family knows that they have a place of high importance in your life, and be very hesitant to ever tear those boundaries down. Have a family game night, or a Night-out with your wife, or a Father son, Daddy Daughter, Mother son, and so on dates for special one-on-one time. And when those plans are made...GUARD that time. When someone refuses to cancel plans to do something, or to be with someone...you automatically know that is an important thing in that person's life. Keep your family in that zone!

We have to be careful not to get spread too thin that our family feels the pinch of our lack of presence. Work and Sleep will demand a lot of our time as it is, so we have to be wise in our dealing out time to other activities. This, as it turns out, is also why it is so important to utilize our time at work to serve and minister to others in Jesus Christ, to live and share the gospel, because 1) we are already there, and 2) we will encounter the lost as we go! If we go to work with the expressed intention of living for Jesus and letting our light shine in the workplace, we can give all of our working hours to God as a gift and sacrifice; a service we do out of gratitude for the grace and forgiveness He has extended to us in Christ. When we seek to give God our working hours, we can spend our time not only completely tasked specific to our job, but we can be on the watch for Gospel opportunities while we go about our day to day activities.

And of course, our relationship with the Lord MUST have highest priority in our lives. It was A.W. Tozer who said, “Those who would know God must spend time with Him.” Jesus also reminded us that we must seek first God's Kingdom and righteousness first (Matthew 6:33). If our relationship with the Lord is not our highest priority, than as Husbands, Wives, Children, or Working Believers...we are not going to be able to walk in and extend the Grace and Forgiveness of God as we will need to. It is the overflowing of our relationship with Jesus Christ, our gratitude for Him and His love, that is our ministry to those around us.


As you begin this process, it will not be easy, and you will struggle. Old habits will be hard to break, you will revert back to saying "yes" all the time. You will have mishaps, but don't give us. Keep reviewing your time. Keep making the important things important. Be intentional at work, and guard your time with Jesus and your family. This is where growth happens, and we will need God's grace to get it done.