“Your focus determines your reality,” this famous line was uttered by Qui-Gonn Jinn from Start Wars-The Phantom Menace.
Ok, maybe it’s really infamous and you don’t remember that quote. However, think about it for a moment. Would you agree or disagree?
I’m about to show you why I wholeheartedly agree with a certain Jedi Master and not just because it’s from Star Wars… well, not entirely 😉 No, I’m going to show you how your approach relates to anything you want to be. successful in and then more specifically in your Christian life. Clever? Let’s go!
“Narrow or narrow attention; concentration” – that’s what Mister dictionary.com says. When you focus on a certain aspect of anything, you generally ignore the rest of the picture. You are concentrating so much that the rest, at the very least, becomes much less important and takes up less of your mental powers.
So what happens? You get more of what you’re focusing on. And less of what you’re ignoring. You can be successful in whatever you are focusing on because you are giving it your full attention. And everything else becomes more difficult to improve.
Whatever is in your focus, you will begin to focus on it and you will be better conditioned to alter certain aspects of your life, allowing the object of your focus to actually become a true part of your life.
Perhaps an example is in order:
[Example]
Let’s say you’re on a diet. It is not allowed to eat carbohydrates. So what should you focus on? If you’re going to focus on the fact that you can’t eat donuts and ho hos, what do you think you’re going to crave all day? That’s right, ho hos and donuts!
Now, instead, let’s say you focus on how you can make a great-tasting meal with fresh vegetables and delicious lean meat products, how you’ll prepare them, cook them, and enrich the flavor. What do you think you’re going to be looking forward to that night? The carb-free, lean, meaty meal, of course!
[end example]
Do you see how your focus determines your reality? If you are concentrating on what you shouldn’t be doing, you are setting yourself up for failure… are you beginning to see how this relates to your Christian walk?
What do most Christians focus on? What do most preachers preach about? What can’t you do! I am right? The only result you can get from concentrating on what you can’t do is for you to do exactly that! Most Christians think in terms of what they cannot do: the law.
The Bible goes so far as to say that we wouldn’t even know about sin if it weren’t for the law:
“On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except by the Law; because I would not have known covetousness if the Law had not said: ‘YOU SHALL NOT COVETE.
But sin, taking advantage of the commandment, produced all kinds of covetousness in me.”
Romans 7:7-8
Likewise, we wouldn’t even have the desire to do what we’re not supposed to do if we weren’t focused on not doing it. (Just read it again, it will make sense.)
So it’s clear that by fixing our attention on what we’re trying to avoid, we’re actually setting ourselves up for failure. You can’t focus on what you don’t want and get what you do want.
But you need to focus on something! And just like our diet example, the right way to focus is on what you do want! Just as diet works if you focus on good food, your Christian life will work if you focus on what is good: Jesus Christ and the life he gave you.
Focusing on Christ and allowing him to express himself daily through you is the key to success in your Christian life. Pay no attention to what you’re not supposed to do, “out of sight, out of mind!”
So I guess old Qui Gonn was right, “your focus determines your reality”!