The Path Principle

Andy Stanley wrote a great book, "The Principle of the Path." Let's review the content of this book. It is based on one simple idea:  You Get Where You Are Going. Yep, it really is that simple. However, accepting and understanding this idea can change your life forever. People make poor choices and genuinely wonder why they are not in a place they want to be. Connecting steps with destination is incredibly powerful. Then we can set great destinations, consider each day momentum in that direction, and use one powerful key about God to keep it all held together.  

- What is a Principle and why does it matter?

- What is "the Principle of the Path?"

- How can I begin to take ownership of my present situation?

- How powerful are daily choices in long term goal setting?

- What is the power of Submission and why must I channel it?

Transcript

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Hello, welcome back for season two of the Excel Still More podcast. I am your host, Chris Emerson, and I'm here to encourage you with tips and strategies to help you deepen your faith, build stronger relationships, and do the most with your life in Christ. Thank you for joining. Let's get started. I am so glad that you've joined today. I really think some things will get laid out in the course of this episode that can have profound and important impacts on your future. It's been quite a long time since I have devoted an episode to a book, but I've been reading this particular book now for several weeks and have found it so helpful. I've been able to understand how I've gotten to where I am now and what I may need to do in order to either turn that around or proceed to the next level. The book is called The Principle of the Path, and it was written by a man named Andy Stanley. If you get a chance to read it, I know it will be helpful to you. Today I just want to highlight some of the content, give you some actionable items related to the book, and then maybe if you want to dig in more, you can do so on your own. What he has to share, this principle of the path, sounds so basic. When he revealed it in the first couple of chapters, I thought, how in the world are you going to get like 200 pages out of this basic concept? But as each chapter unfolded, he kind of pulled back the layers and told you a little bit about how to take advantage of the principle. And then right in the middle of that book, he reveals the big secret, and I'll be telling you about that today. Before we get into it, I want to begin this episode in the same way that he begins that book, which is discussing the concept of a principle itself. You might notice that last week's episode was called the Donut Principle and this week the Path Principle. So maybe it's worth talking about that word just a minute. It represents things that are true in this life. They are realities for everyone, and it doesn't matter if you know about them or not, they are still ongoing, if you believe in them or not, or agree with them or not. They are life principles, and there is nothing you can do to change them. A good example from the Bible might be you reap what you sow. You can try to get around that, and maybe you can sneak past it every once in a while, but in the end, that's just the way life works. So you can choose to ignore it or you can choose to take advantage of it, like in that case, by sewing things into your marriage, sewing things into your future that could potentially bring about great reward. Last week's episode is another example. The doughnut principle is absolute. If you do all of the right things in your life and check all of the boxes, but at your heart there is no love, no love for God and God's people and your neighbor, no mercy and kindness, then all of the accomplishments in the world will be hollow and they will fail you when you need them the most. That's just the way it is. So what you and I ought to be doing is accepting that and then taking advantage of that. So, in the case of last week's episode, we should be searching for a heart of compassion and love and then doing things that spring out of that because we genuinely accept the donut hole principle and we don't want to fall into it. So, with that in mind, let me tell you the principle of the path. Are you ready? It's super profound. Here it is. You get where you are going. That's it. That's the whole thing. There are a bunch of really great ways to say it. Andy Stanley does a nice job of that. He'll say things like, the steps that you take dictate the destination to which you arrive. That's totally true. The daily decisions that you make, the life that you are building one step at a time, one decision at a time, one day at a time, is always moving you somewhere. And you may look back and regret the decisions, but you still end up at a particular place. You may look back and be very thankful for the decisions because of the places where they have taken you. We do not have the right to separate the path from the destination. These are truths that people have tried to get around forever. They walk in one direction, they spend all of their money, they get into debt, they don't invest, and they think that they're going to get rich. They think that God's going to bless them in this life. And then when he doesn't, they wonder, why am I over here instead of over there? Well, that's called the path principle. When you spend all your money and you go in debt day after day after day, you end up at a destination called broke. Of course, this is also true in the positive direction, and that's kind of the point that Andy Stanley is making. If you will accept this, you can begin to use it to your advantage. Remember, it's true whether you accept it or believe it or not, but you can use it and you can make something great happen. For instance, let's stay focused on finances a minute. Maybe you save money each day, each week, each month. You choose to live slightly below your means methodically, step after step after step, and you invest in Apple stock or something a little bit at a time. Chances are 10 years from now, you will have a nice investment and maybe even a lot of money. You will be at an awesome destination. But you didn't get there overnight, and you didn't get there against the choices that you made. It was the sum total of the methodical day in and day out decisions that you kept making, step after step, and it really was the likely outcome. And that's the thing about this principle. You may have things in your life, spiritually or otherwise, that you genuinely desire. I'm telling you, there's a terrific chance that you can get that because there is a principle at play that says if you have the ability, decision after decision, to value each day like it matters, understand that every step you take is valuable because it is movement in a direction, and you get that working for you over time, you end up in great places. I think that the big error that I have made, and maybe you as well, is forgetting that little decisions add up, that methodical, regular decisions are taking me somewhere. And when I begin to own that and look into scripture and see that Jesus expects me to own that, I can take advantage of it. I'm reminded of Matthew 6, which we studied a couple of weeks ago, where it talks about do not worry. Well, at the beginning, he said, Lay up for yourself treasures in heaven. So I can look out at this destination and I can see myself getting to the gates of heaven, prepared to enter in. But that seems so far away. And yet at the end of that section, he says, Don't worry about tomorrow, just take care of today. Each day is a step. Let's think about marriage a minute, and we will walk it in both directions. Here is a couple who would like to enjoy a great marriage, but on a regular day-to-day basis, they don't treat each other very well. They aren't very respectful, and they don't set aside quality time. But they don't think that those little daily decisions really matter. They think that that's just the way their life is and that's just the way things go. But if they pray enough or they get enough counseling or something outside of their relationship happens in their favor, they will end up in the destination of a great marriage. But they won't. The path principle says all of those decisions are headed somewhere, and until you stop walking that way daily and change the way you treat each other and start walking incrementally in the right direction, you just cannot get there. Now there may be exceptions to the rule. People say that, they say, well, principle is a principle, but maybe it will work out well for us. But what that usually amounts to is just justification to not change today. Like today's decisions won't really matter and somehow it will all work out. But let's look at it a different way. Maybe here is a marriage that is really in trouble, and they own the fact that they walked there. They got to that destination because of regular, consistent attitude, words, and choices. And they decide, look, we can't get from way over here to way over there a great marriage overnight. Basically, the principle of the path won't allow it. We are exactly where we have traveled. But if we could just make daily changes, a little bit of a change in our quality time together, or the way we handle problems, or how we serve God, and just start walking the right way with some patience and time, the path principle says you will get to a different place than where you are today. And that's what this entire podcast has been about for 18 months. Just get better, episode one. Excel still more. We know where we want to go, and we are willing to own the daily decisions that move us that way. This works with your savings account. It works with the weight on the scale each morning. It works on the nature of your relationship. And it absolutely works when you talk about building greater faith in God. There's one we could talk about. People come into my office and they say, I've got a really poor relationship with God. And then they go on to say, I haven't been reading my Bible, I haven't been praying very well, I haven't really been going to church much or paying attention, and I haven't been taking in many spiritual influences. And somehow, I can't explain it, I've ended up with a very weak faith. And you know, they'll look at me like I'm supposed to say something, and then it's all better. But that's not the way that it works. Now you can confess your sins to Christ and He can forgive you in that moment, but it won't change you where you are and who you are. That's the sum total of all the choices. So it becomes very difficult to help those people because what I need to tell them is look, we've got to change those habits, and I don't just mean for a day or a week. That will only get you a few feet back in the right direction. I mean daily, methodically, and with great commitment. And of course, there aren't too many people willing to do that, but those who do, the principle of the path begins to work to their advantage. So, okay, you listened to me for 12 minutes walk through examples and explanations. Now I want to give you some action items to think about. From the book and from my own study, I have derived three things that are very helpful in my daily walk. Number one, spend some time getting a clear and passionate vision on the destination that you desire. You can do this in every area. In the area of faith, what kind of a Christian do you want to be by the end of this year? A year from today, what would you like to be doing in Christ that you're not doing now? But don't make some donut choice where you just pick some box to check that everyone else is checking. Check your heart. Who do you really want to become in Christ? You can do this with your marriage. Where would you like to see your marriage by the end of this year or a year from today? What kind of a relationship would you like restored? You can do this with your finances. What would be a tremendous relief by the end of this year if you could fix it or a year from today? You can even do it with the fourth F we often talk about with fitness. What is it about your body that you truly know needs to change and you can see yourself at that destination and it is exciting to think about? Spend a little time on that. It's like when Jesus said, lay up treasures in heaven. He's okay for you to look forward to heaven and get excited about that. First thing, do you know where you're going? It reminds me of that old adage, when you aim at nothing, you hit it every time. When we are clear on the destination we desire, we will begin to see the pathway to get there. And that's the second thing. I don't want you to lay out a six-month or 12-month pathway, but I want you to own the fact that what you do today in those areas is a step in a direction. Every day's calorie intake is a step towards an outcome. Every compliment you give to your spouse or moment when you bite your tongue is a step in a direction, as is an insult. Every time you save a little money and eat at home and put that towards a debt, it's a step towards financial freedom. And every time you buy something you can't afford, you are walking towards a destination that you have already renounced. Daily ownership. When I think about the steps on a path to a destination, I like to think in terms of each day, every day, and the decisions therein. Now listen, not a lot of people are able to do this. They don't have the patience or the passion to string together a series of days, knowing that it may take weeks or months to get to where they'd like to be. So instead, they don't take much responsibility for each day, thinking that they are just putting off the journey in the right direction when the principle is still at play and they are heading in the wrong direction. So, secondly, start owning those daily choices. And then the third thing, the real jewel in the Andy Stanley book that I love the most, it's built around the fact that this is not going to be easy. Whether you're trying to commit to a new destination without pornography or profanity in it, or you're trying to commit to a new destination of an improved marriage and more faithful worship, it gets very hard because the bad habits that have gotten you where you didn't want to go are constantly nagging at you, trying to get you to come back to that comfortable place. Not to mention the temptations of the devil and the passing pleasures of sin. There is a reason why not too many people get to great places because all of those things hold them back. You are going to be fighting yourself in this next week trying to plot a new course. So he introduces a word that most people don't want to hear, and I think it's brilliant. He said, The principle of the path and mastering it requires the word submission. Submission to the will of God. And this is where it all becomes incredibly spiritual, kingdom related, and powerful. Some of the examples I've given today about fitness or finance, maybe it's okay if you don't ever get those lined out. But a lot of the real destinations that matter matter not only to you, but also to God. God wants to see you have a godly marriage. In fact, he commands you to do that. God wants to see you get that sin out of your life. God wants to see you committed to the church, and you're not going to want to do it at some point or another. I know I feel that way. I want to throw this podcast out, forget about the principle of the path, and just do the wrong thing. It's what I want to do. We all go through that. The remedy isn't for you to talk yourself out of it or go grab this podcast and listen to it again. Maybe that'll help, maybe it won't. The remedy is to bring God into the room and just trust him. This will be the hardest habit I've ever had to break. This will take time. I don't even know if I'll get to where I want to go, but I trust that God's will is right. Do what God says. For some people listening, I might add this: do what God says for a change. Dr. Phil likes to say, so how's that working out for you? People talk about where they are in their lives and they're unhappy. I was counseling a couple recently. They are in a terrible place, right on the edge of divorce. And a lot of it are the choices that the man has made. And they walk through all of these choices and they hadn't been putting God first. And they're like, Chris, why has this happened to us? And I had to explain to them it's happened because this is what happens. So they come back week after week and they're saying, Chris, you must not be the best counselor or whatever because it's not getting better. So I start asking them, tell me about how you have changed. What are you doing now that's different than you were doing three weeks ago? And the answer was, not very much. Why don't we just try what God said for a change? Why don't I just deny my will for a little while, fight myself, but not by my own power, by the power of the fact that God is in the room with me and he has a better plan for my marriage, for my future, for my life, and give that path a try for a while. That requires submission to God. And while it's not easy, it is the secret to a new pathway. And it is the key to better destinations. So as we close, I hope you believe in the path principle. It is true and active in your life, whether you do or not, but if you do, you can begin to take advantage of it. How? Start thinking about destinations that matter to you, then own daily decisions as steps in that direction, and finally make a choice to submit to God. Give Him control for a while and see where He can take you. Find a more fulfilling future by following the path principle. Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you enjoyed the program, please remember to share with your family and your friends. Also, you can go to excelstillmore.life to sign up for emails, order the three month journals, or just catch up on old episodes. So until next time, let me leave you with this whatever you choose to do today in the name of the Lord Jesus, excel stillmore.