You have a public life. It’s the part everybody sees. There aren’t many who don’t give at least some thought to how they appear to others. That’s why my most frequent fashion question is, “Does this look ok?” I’m not even sure what “ok” is all the time but a certain part of me fears not getting there. It’s not just clothing, it’s the impression you make: calm, cool, and sophisticated, that’s the ticket. Or competent. Or deep. Or spiritually strong. Sometimes you want people to think you care. Sometimes you want them to think you just don’t care because you are that confident and together. But whatever the goal, we can all give a lot of time and attention to carefully crafting an image.
Many have a professional life. That’s where you perform for a paycheck. You tell someone, “I’ll get the job done.” Every day you go out there and put your effort, skill, and energy toward fulfilling a promise and getting a reward in return.
You have a personal life. You interact with family and friends. You have conversations and go to Dairy Queen and take walks together.
And, we all have a private life. Our private life is hidden from everybody else. But here’s the thing, who you really are is determined by what you do in your private life. It’s alone, in a private place that you think through your values and decide what matters. It’s in the private moments that you connect with God, confess, repent, surrender, and settle the matter of who’s in charge in your life that day. You don’t build your character while you’re in public, at work, or with your family. If it’s going to happen, it happens when you are there in your private world, through feeding on the Word and the wisdom of others.
Everything about your public, professional, and personal life depends on what happens in the hidden, secret, solitary minutes of the day. The strength of a building doesn’t depend on the flooring or the paint or the pictures on the wall. What matters are the solid timbers and steel beams and the foundation that are hidden from sight.
So, are you giving time and attention to your private life? Maybe tomorrow take ten minutes to set some priorities, remind yourself of the kind of person you want to be, read some Scripture, and tell God you need Him. All of that will show up in the rest of your day in a very good way.
