The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Making a Life is More important than Making a Living

Episode Date: September 18, 2020

Do you find yourself just going through the motions in life and feeling empty? Today, Jeff explains the difference between making a living and making a life and shares practical ways to live a fulfilling and meaningful life. Snippet from the Show Making a living is temporal, while making a life is eternal. Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail] Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

You're listening to the Jeff Kaven's show, Episode 184. Making a life is more important than making a living. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavins. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven show.

Thank you once again for Joe. Joining me, yes, it is true. Making a life is more important than making a living, although we have been taught from the time that we were just wee little children that ultimately one day, you're going to have to make a living. And that is daunting. But I'm here to tell you today some good news, and that is this. You can make a life, even if you don't make a good living, at least the way the world determines a good living. Jeff Kaven's with you, and we're going to be talking about this today, and particularly during COVID-19 and the struggles that people are going through,

I think that it's very important for us to begin to focus on making a life, and making a life comes out of decisions and habits and priorities in our life. But you know, so often in our lives, We focus on making a living, and that typically means the finances and the 401k and the house and the kids in the car and everything else. And the whole package comes together as the American dream and making a living. But it is so much more important to make a life. And you and I have only been given this one life. Maybe it's 20 years.

Maybe it's 40, maybe 60, 80. Maybe you'll live to be over a hundred years old. And that's the one life that you have. That's the one life you have. And we see in many people's lives that they actually make five, six, seven attempts at making, quote, unquote, a living, right? And making a living will make us happy. Making a living will substantiate us in society. Not really.

It's really about making a life. and that's what we're going to stand before God someday and give an account for is this one life that started with a heartbeat 10, 20, 40, 60, 80 years ago and is still beating to today. And you're listening because that heart is continually pumping. But one day, spoiler alert, it will end. And that will be your life. So how do you make life really a life and not. focus on just making a living. I'll give you a few ideas here today on the show, but I want to remind you that all of the notes on all of our shows here, you can get them by simply writing a text, my name, Jeff Kavins, just one word, J-E-F-F-C-A-V, as in Victory, I-N-S, and you can text it to 33-777. That's all you got to do, Jeff Kavins to 3-3-7-7-7. 7.7. So before we get into really focusing on this life, I want to remind you that if you are

listening, and this is September of 2020, we have something really special happening right now at Ascension Press. I am teaching a very special series on Wednesday nights on Ascension's Facebook page. And it started on the 16th of September. So if you're listening to this in order. We just gave our introduction this last week, but you can go to ascensionpress.com, and you can listen to that introduction to unlocking the mystery of the Bible. We had over 10,000 people join us this last week to go through the entire Bible, unlocking the mystery of the Bible. And maybe you've gone through that before. It's eight half-hour sessions that will take you through the entire Bible. You say, well, I've already gone through that. Well, what we're doing now is we're going

through it again. We're recapping what is on the videos. And we're going deeper because we don't have just a half an hour. We have an hour together. And it is, it's really different because you get to participate. You get to ask questions or make comments in the midst of this teaching. And we just went through our introduction. And wow, it was so great to hear from people from all over the world. and your comments, for example, I ask, you know, what are some of the impediments that you might be experiencing when it comes to reading the Bible? And we had all kinds of comments, and we're able to address those comments, which is just super, you know, to be able to do that. I love it. Well, I'm going to encourage you to go to ascensionpress.com and register. It's not too late.

And if you can get the workbook, if you can, I'll put all this in the show notes, but if you can get the workbook, then we'll give you free access to those eight videos. And then before each lesson, which the next one would be the early world, Genesis 1 through 12, that's show number two. If you listen to that or you watch that before I teach, then you'll just get that much more out of it. So I hope to see you this coming week. And if you're listening to this show way out of order like it's 2022 or 2028 or whatever, you can go back to ascensionpress.com and hopefully get those videos. Anyway, we're going to move forward here. We are talking about making a life and how much, how that's way more important than just simply making a living. Making a living

really gets down to going out and putting enough hours in to get enough money to pay your bills and to buy a few things in life. And you know as well as I do that life is more than that. Life is more than where you live and the clothing that you have and the food that you're going to eat. And Jesus talks about this in Matthew chapter six. He says in Matthew chapter six that, you know, you don't need to worry about all these other things that go into, quote, unquote, making a living. For Jesus says that even the Gentiles, they worry about all these things. But then he gives a solution that I think will point us more to what making a life is about.

And see, making a life is different than making a living in that making a living is just taking care of some of the necessities. but making a life is living in such a way that you will go from earth on into eternity, into heaven, and to be with God forever and ever and ever. You see, making a living is temporal. It's here on earth. It's only for a finite number of years, but making a life is eternal. It's eternal because you're created as an eternal being. And this helps me out from time to time, especially when I'm going through difficulty.

And, you know, I might be going through some kind of obstacle in my life. It's a good reminder to remind myself that life is more than making a living. Life is about eternity and being with God for all eternity. Now, the way that we make a life is that we have to prioritize what is eternally really, really important in our life. And so if I were to interview you on the podcast here and ask you some questions about what is really, really important to you, you probably would have a prioritized list of, you know, well, what's most important is my relationship with God. And then what's next in line is my relationship with my spouse.

And then what's most important is my relationship with my children, and then my job. And so you get it. We all have this prioritized list. But oftentimes, that prioritized list is eclipsed by the duties of making a living. And I, look, I was a pastor for 12 years before coming back into the Catholic Church. I have counseled hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of people. And I know that deep, deep in the heart, the real concerns of life and the things that mean so much is really about making a life. and that is my relationship with God, my relationship with my spouse and my children.

These are the things that really make up an amazing life. But through marketing and the cares of the world, we end up spending more of our time just making a living rather than making a life. And consequently, we have this sense of emptiness. Or we could say we live a disintegrated life. We don't give ourselves to those things that really make for a life, a beautiful life, a meaningful life, a fruitful life. Look, I've been there myself, and I know the difference between making a life and making a living. Now, we're not advocating that you give up your responsibility of making a living.

That's something that we do. We do make a living. we do go to work and we do eat and we clothe ourselves and so forth. But the Lord in Matthew chapter 6 is telling us that that is not the priority. That if you want to make a life, you've got to have your priority straight. And here's what he says in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33. It's one of my, I would say, probably top 10 verses in the Bible, Galatians 220 being number one. But Matthew 633 is ranking up there pretty high in terms of verses that really have a powerful

impact on my thinking and my actions. Here's what it says. Jesus, and this is on the heels of the Gentiles worry about so many things, and your Heavenly Father knows what you need. And then Jesus says, but seek first. Now, isn't that good? In the midst of COVID-19 and all the decisions that we have to make. and all the hurdles we have to jump over, all the marketing coming our way, all the CDC regulations,

governors' regulations, what's the church going to do in the midst of all of this? Jesus says, but seek first. What do you think it is? But seek first the kingdom of God. Seek first the kingdom of God. Pause there just for a moment. You want to know the secret to making a life versus making a living? Well, Jesus just spelled it out right there. He says, the Gentiles are worried about the clothing and housing and

the food and everything. And Jesus says, hey, hey, hey, that's making a living. I will be there for you. I'll take care of things, but you seek something first. And this thing that you seek first, it corresponds to making a life. And that is seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. What does that mean? What it means is, is that the very first thing that we do, the number one priority is we seek first the kingdom of God. That is Jesus' kingdom, he is the king, and we seek him first. We seek his will first, his plan first, his worldview is yoke. That's what we want to seek first. In other words, we could reduce it to that popular phrase. It's on so many bracelets and rings. What would Jesus do? what would Jesus do that's what we want to seek first in everything during COVID-19 and at any other time

in life the first thing we we do is we seek the kingdom that is the rule and reign of Jesus in my marriage the rule and reign of Jesus in the way I'm raising my children the rule and reign of Jesus in how I handle money how I handle stress how I handle the kids at home instead of going to school or doing all my work at home. Rather than going to the office, I want to seek first the mind of Jesus. That's the number one key to making a life rather than just making a living. Let me read that whole verse for you. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. What'll be added to you? Making a living. It'll all be added to you. Now, I'm not making light of making a living. I'm just saying

this, that if your life is all about clothing and eating and shelter, and that's what it is, then, yay, you made a living. But don't you want more? Don't you want to make a life? Don't you want to know that every area of your life, your marriage, your children, your revenue, your home, your every, your medical, everything? You sought God first. You went to Jesus first, and he added all these other things to you. I want to take a break. When I come back from the break, I want to give you four reminders, four things to do when it comes to pinpointing what you are to do first in different areas of your life. And I believe that this will contribute. I really do. I believe it'll contribute

to making a life rather than settling for just making a living. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. And if you're looking for a way to learn more about your Catholic faith, I invite you to check out the Ascension Presents YouTube channel. You're going to find tons of free videos featuring Catholic presenters like Matt Frad, Leadero, Jackie Bobby Angel, and Emily Wilson. Go to YouTube.com slash ascension presents. That's YouTube.com slash ascension presents. And if you like what you see, please share and subscribe. And I'm glad you came back and you're stuck with me here. We're talking about. making a life and how much more important that is than just simply making a living.

In the end, when we are gone and buried, we want people to remember, particularly our kids and our grandkids, that you lived a great life, that I lived a great life. I lived a whole life. I lived a holy life. I don't want people to stand over my grave and just say, man, he made a living. He made a living, didn't he? No, that wasn't the goal. The goal wasn't to make a living. The goal was to make a life. And I can only really live this life with Jesus at the helm, and Jesus inside of me. I love what Paul says. I have been crucified with Christ, and it's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered himself up for me.

Now we're talking about seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and God says, I'll add all these other things to you, but you seek me first. You seek my rule and reign first. And so I'm going to encourage you this week to kind of categorize your life. You have, number one, you have your relationship with God. Category number one, I'll put this in the show notes for you. Category number two is you have your immediate prioritized relationships. If you're married, it's your spouse, right? It's your spouse. And then after that would come, our children, our children.

I remember one thing, you know, when I was growing up, my dad would always come home from work, and he would come home from work, and I'd be sitting on the front porch with his ball glove, and I had my ball glove and my baseball, and he would get out of the car, and I would throw his glove at him because I wanted to play catch. and he would throw the glove back to me, tap me on the head as he walked by, and you go in and he would give my mom a kiss and a big hug. And I remember asking him one time as I think I was in elementary school. I said, well, you know, do you love her more than me? And I'll never forget what he told me. He said, I chose your mother long before I had you. And it just always made a big

impact on me that he loved my mother so much. You might think, well, boy, that might make you feel a little insecure, but no, it didn't. It gave me more security, knowing that my parents loved each other, chose each other, and that I was the fruit of their love. And so in every area of your life, you've got to have that priority. In your relationship with God, what comes first? In your relationship with your spouse, what comes first in your relationship with your children, with your job, right? And so just in those areas right there, in your relationship with God, your spouse, your children, friends, employer, you need to ask yourself right now in the midst of all the chaos going around in the world, what is number one in each of these categories?

In other words, what is God calling you to do, number one, right? now about your relationship with him. What is he asking you to do? You may say, well, the obvious is pray and be with him. Okay. Are you doing it? Are you doing it? That's a good question, isn't it? Is that the first thing that you're doing it? You are seeking that relationship with God, and you're actually doing something about it. What about the relationship with your wife? What about the relationship with your husband? What is the first thing? What do you need to do right now? What do you need to do right now? And I believe that we are all smart enough to know what we need to do.

It might be as simple as I need to spend more time with my spouse. I need to pray with my spouse during these very difficult times. I need to give my spouse a break. Maybe my spouse is not only working from home, but is also the educator now, he or she. And I need to give them a break. I need to carve out some time in the day to let them know, I love you. you and hold them and tell them how much you appreciate them. That might be the first thing that you can do. You might want to give your spouse a break from the chaos that's going on with

the kids. But my point is this. I can't answer the question for you. You need to determine what is most important in my relationship with God, in my relationship with my spouse, and when it comes to my children right now, what is the most important thing? What is the most important thing? Do they feel insecure? Do they feel like the future is hopeless? Do you need to instill hope in your children? Do you need to instill faith in your children? Do your children need to know that they are loved by you and that God loves them? All right. Establish that. Establish that. And when it comes to your job, at work? Are you balanced in the time that you give it? Are you giving your best when it comes time to work? So you can take the different categories of your life. I'm not going to get deep into the weeds that much with you right here, but you, I'm doing it myself. You can determine those categories. And then number one, what do you seek first? And it's going to always be related to the will of God for each of those categories. Now, here's four things I want to quickly give you that

I'll put them in the show notes, but it'll act as an aid to help you really bring about some pinpoint accuracy in making a life rather than just kind of going haphazard and making a living or struggling to make a living and calling that a life. Okay, number one, determine it. Take time and pray. Be honest and arrive at that thing that you need to do right now. The number one most important thing, if you cry, out to God and you ask God to help. You ask God to show you what that is. My friend, I am confident that

he will show you. I am. I'm totally confident that he will show you. You have to ask yourself, perhaps the question, what would happen in your life if you didn't do this? If you didn't address this, if you didn't give yourself over to this one thing that you're thinking about when it comes to your relationship with God, what would the outcome be? So, determine it in your relationship with God, your spouse, your children, your employer, your health, whatever the categories are, determine the number one thing in each of those groups. Number two. So number one is determine it. Number two, nurture it. How do you spend your time if that seed, that number one, that number one thing, on the list. Is it being nurtured? Are you nurturing it? Are you reading? Are you praying about it? Are you looking

for others who display that virtue? Are you nurturing this? Do you know what the Bible says about that one thing? Do you know what the church teaches in the catechism about that one thing? Do you understand what what God's will is at work, that one thing. So, number one, determine it. Number two, nurture it. Find the time to nurture that number one thing that you have put on that list. And so, for example, if I put number one on my list, the number one thing between me and God is that I need to establish a time every single morning

to meet with God. My role then would be to nurture that. It would be to read up on prayer and forms of prayer like Lexio de Vina. It would be related to nurturing. It would be related to reading up on the saints and how they prayed or how they prioritized time in their day and made room for God in their life. Nurturing it would be investigating the various types of prayer that the church offers me. And I would nurture this idea of spending time with Jesus every single day. So number one is determinant. Number two is nurture it. Number three, protect it. Protect it. Wow, is this an important thing?

Because if you make that list, and number one on that list is prayer time with God, and number one on that list with your spouse is to spend quality time with them, man, I got news for you. There's a whole big bunch of world out there that wants to steal that time. It wants to slip in as number one. And believe me, it will happen. It will happen. And that which is expedient will take over from that which is important unless you protect it.

My wife and I both feel that our time with the Lord every single day is, in fact, most important thing. We determined it. We nurture it. And we protect it. Nothing. Nothing gets in the way of that first hour to hour and a half of the day. Nothing. Nothing. We protect that time together. Nothing else is going to be scheduled then. And I am not going to start watching TV to see what's on the news because something really wild happened last night. I'm going to do everything I can to protect that time. I really am. And so schedule it as a priority. And then number four, do it. Do it. It's the most important thing. Do it. I know that sounds a little light there, but you know what? You can determine it, nurture it and protect it and still not do it. You've got to do it. So that's what I want

to share with you today that making a life is more important than making a living. And making a life is, it comes down to priorities and determining those priorities, nurturing those priorities, protecting it, and then ultimately doing it. And I want to encourage you this week to sit down and write out those categories in what is really the most important thing. Remember, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. My friend, let me close in prayer right now and ask God to bless you during this. time, and may you have a fruitful week. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, oh, Jesus, we thank you for inviting us into a relationship with you. You died for us. We're adopted

sons and daughters. Thank you for sharing your life with us. Help us, Lord, this week to seek first you and your kingdom and your righteousness in every area of our life. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. pray for me, my friend. I'll pray for you. I love you. And you have a fantastic week.