Before running a series of errands recently, I took my daughter, Danielle, and her sons through the Starbucks drive thru.

When we ordered our drinks, I surprised the boys and added two birthday cake pops at the end. I noticed that Camden started to get very excited in the back seat when he heard me place the order, as we pulled forward in line, I decided to lovingly tease him just a little bit.

I looked at Danielle and said, “Oh no! I forgot to order cake pops for the boys!! I got ours, but didn’t get one for them. Do you think they will mind?”

Unbeknownst to me, Danielle had spent time with Camden that morning encouraging him to not be selfish. So she answered, “Not at all! We just talked about this earlier this morning.” Looking at Camden she said, “Camden, tell Nana what it means to be unselfish.”

Camden replied, “Well, being unselfish is like when your nana has a cake pop and gives it to me, and when mommy has a cake pop and gives it to Chandler…”

Danielle was obviously expecting a different answer and her teaching moment somewhat backfired (and I couldn’t stop giggling in the front seat!). But, as we pulled away, I couldn’t help but think about the many lessons God tries to teach us that we don’t apply personally. It is easy to look at others and expect them to live out biblical principles (especially when we benefit from it), but it’s not always as easy for us to see the need for personal application in our own lives.

Take time to pause and evaluate your own life. Is God trying to teach you something? Do YOU need to stay focused on His lessons, rather than worry about how others are doing? Are there biblical truths that you are failing to personally apply to your daily life?

I hope that you will join me in my recommitment to continually evaluate my spiritual life. Together, let’s seek to apply truths to our lives so that we may be more effective in the Lord’s work!