Erwin McManus from Mosaic church in LA has been preaching a series on self mastery. Many Christians have a misconception that self mastery is the opposite of “putting your faith in Jesus” or “fully trusting God” with your life. McManus offers that alongside that there is also a way God made us to be the product of our own choices and to take ownership over our life choices. What is self mastery? It’s recognizing that we were created to have agency in reaching the fullest potential of who God created us to be. Being a person of self mastery means recognizing the difference between the things only God can do in your life and the things that God requires only you to choose into (and giving you the power, strength, and presence to do so).
In his podcast, McManus focuses on how to manage your energy, not your time. He outlines four epicenters in our lives—problems, people, work, and emotions—that either give us energy or take away energy. He responds to the question “why do I feel like I have no energy?” by explaining that energy comes and goes through motion. Sometimes we look for energy in the wrong places and things. Sometimes we underestimate how much people, things, and even work can give us energy! A life of love, generosity, and serving (when done right) will actually energize us in the way God created us.
Timestamps below:
3:33 – We are “energy machines” and we both consume and replenish energy
7:04 – Jesus expended energy and was not immune from being tired
11:50 – We are conduits of energy (Luke 8:40-48, the story of the women touching Jesus’ cloak and drawing energy out of him)
12:12 – Breakfast = coffee, coffee bean = energy?
15:14 – Anecdote from his marriage about playing basketball 😂
18:34 – First epicenter of energy, problems
20:14 – Second epicenter, people and relationships
22:18 – Third epicenter, work
26:34 – Fourth epicenter, emotions
28:37 – Energy comes in motion
31:40 – We try to energize ourselves with the wrong kind of fuel
36:04 – Unconditional love as a source of energy
[…] or other helpful resources from others! Check out our recent posts, one from John Mark Comer and one from Erwin McManus. This post is going to expand on some of my personal thoughts around the podcast on managing […]