Maximizing and Minimizing...which is it?

Welcome to the front porch on this Super Saturday…suppose to be in the 50’s today and sunny.  So hopefully after our little visit I can work on a ‘to do’ list around the farm.

Anyway,  as promised we would discuss some words for Lifestyle Living…2 for one today…double deal…BOGO….these words kinda go hand in hand…like horse and carriage…love and marriage…boy, I am dating myself here..but, anyway the words are: MAXIMIZE and MINIMIZE.

We have heard clichés such as ‘take it to the MAX’…so how does that impact our lifestyle living?

Maximize…what does this word mean?  Means: to the highest degree, the absolute best, greatest possible, the most….so Minimize means the opposite: the lowest degree, the least possible.  Hmmm, I am going somewhere with this thought.

One of the best examples of these 2 words and how closely they interact with each other is with the computer and Word… (not the Word per se…more later…but Word as in Windows).  Working on something such as this thought, I may need to check something else…I can arrow up to a little icon with a little minus looking thing, click on it and wa la, it appears to disappear, but really is ‘minimized’ in the lower bar on the computer-in layman’s terms here).  It is there, but out of sight, out of mind until …..

To be our best, to have Lifestyle Living, which to me is Lifestyle Evangelism, we as Christians should live our life in the Max.  Do our best, strive for the highest degree, do the greatest possible. It is WWJD!..Too often we fall into the ho hum attitude…just do enough (minimum) to get by.  Shame on us! Whether it be serving the Lord, our JOB, our family, working in the church, volunteering in the community-do our best…

Now He, as in Jesus, is a great example of MAXIMIZE/MINIMIZE……He knew when to minimize..or wait in the wings, wait until His ministry began….but in the waiting He maximized His opportunities by being the best Son, the best carpenter, the best friend and good person.  I believe even in His most trying days as a carpenter-He kept before Him the hour, the day, the time when He would step onto the stage and begin to fulfill His calling purpose.  BUT, in the meantime, He maximized the opportunities He had….doing His best working with His hands, but all the time, praying and preparing for His time.

Similar to increase-decrease, speak-be quiet, stop- go, forward-backward, up-down…maximize-minimize.

I can get the two mixed up…speak when I should be quiet, go when I should stop, decrease when I should increase or increase when I should decrease, I think you get the picture.  Just like on the computer, hit that function and the page opens back up and then wants to play ‘peek-a-boo’….where are you?

Often, the very things we need to minimize-we want to maximize….someone says something and offends us…why we chew on that, stew on that, brew it up like it is the most horrible, terrible crime that could be committed…We are ‘offended’..as Pastor John Hagee so sweetly thunders…”GET OVER IT”!

Maximize what God does for us! Maximize who He is in our lives! When the opportunity arises, use it to MAXIMIZE our witness……and when necessary use words.  Soooo true, ‘actions speak louder than words…and your actions are speaking so loud I can’t hear a word you are saying!’  

Also, let God and the Holy Spirit MINIMIZE our hurt feelings, disappointments, could have beens, should have beens, missed opportunities, failures, shortcomings, faults.  Most of us can handle that…what we tend to maximize is other’s failures, shortcomings, faults..judging, criticizing (another ize word).

Matthew 7:3 NIV “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank (2 x 4) in your own eye?”  Or from the Message 7:1-3 “Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults, unless, of course, you want the same treatment, that critical spirit has a way of boomeranging.  It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own”…hmmm…maximizing someone else’s shortcomings (sawdust, smudge), minimizing our own (2 x 4 and ugly sneer)……

And just like the computer…we think we have gotten over it, when actually we have only minimized it, to open it up again and again, look at it, examine it, re-examine…maximize it and then

‘save it as’……hmmmm. Fill in the blank.

So, in conclusion today, maximize the good, the God, the great things in our lives.  Minimize the hurts, disappointments….get out of the way when needed, know when to Max and when to Mini….and especially know when to hit the ‘delete’ button and when that little ‘are you sure?’ voice rises up…say “YES”!  gonna FIDO…..Forget It and Drive On.

 Until, tomorrow, here on the Front Porch…be sure and take time to worship the Lord… and I will have another word we will discuss.

Oh, almost forgot, a pretty good quote that goes along with our little chat today:

When you feel offended, you're practicing judgment. . . What you
may not realize is that when you judge another person, you do not
define them. You define yourself as someone who needs to judge others.

Wayne Dyer