Use your organisation for more than just yourself

Organisation matters. If we are organised and use our administrative gifts, it will mean that we are more likely to do what we promise to do. It will mean that we don’t forget the important things we need to do. And we will reflect our Heavenly Father, who loves order.

Solomon’s kingdom in 1 Kings was ordered in all kinds of wise ways. He used delegation to trusted people to ensure that different tasks were done well. He offered justice for all and obtained his resources equally from different parts of the kingdom. The result was a kingdom that ran well and fairly and where everyone benefitted from the wealth and wisdom on offer.

Organisation is a big topic today as well. Countless Mummy bloggers espouse the benefits of a well-organised pantry, planning ahead for school lunches, and scheduling a household using charts and planners. Many self-help books will help you to focus on what is of greatest importance in your life through discipline and pruning (such as ‘Deep Work’ by Cal Newport), while others encourage us to build healthy habits through regular, thoughtful activities (such as ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear). There is great value in much of this. The common grace and wisdom on offer, even from non-Christian sources, can make a big difference in helping us to live lives that are thoughtful and organised for the greater good.

I am an organised person who is married to an even more organised person. Our lives are planned so that we know who is doing what and when. We are yet to forget to pick a child up from somewhere! However, in all this thinking about being organised, there is something that convicts me, and I pray convicts you as well.

We need to use organisation and administration in order to serve God and other people. If we are naturally organised or have cultivated a well-planned lifestyle, we must not use this only in order to benefit ourselves. That’s a limitation with secular books on habits and organisation. Christians don’t want to cultivate good habits only to get along in business or to benefit our family; we need to think bigger. If we improve our organisation only so we can fit in more TV or more work, that’s not a good enough reason.

Solomon’s wise ordering of the kingdom helped everyone in the people of God to thrive, not just himself. God planned creation to have a particular order so that everything worked well together. God put order in marriage for the benefit of the couple and the wider world. The apostles set up a structure for food distribution in Acts 6 so that everyone was well looked after and no injustices were done.

So, when you next make goals or plan out your week, think bigger than yourself and your family. Have you planned time for God’s word and church? Have you got space in there for serving the church family? Is there space for association with non-Christian people? Is that some plan to show hospitality and care to others? Use your planning to make sure others benefit and that we strive to serve God well; else we are no better than those who don’t know Jesus.