Do you ever feel that your life is...losing [a] sense of balance? Would you like to discover a calm center from which to handle the distracting forces of life that seek to move you away from what is truly important?

Using a wheel as a metaphor for the journey to a Christ-centered life—with Christ at the center and strong, reliable spokes leading to the wheel surface that hits the road of our lives...consider seven “spokes” or biblical tools for living a Spirit-filled, Christ-centered life:

• “Good Enough”
• Temperance
• Self-Discovery
• Authenticity
• Calling
• Power and Purpose
• Flexibility

These strong, reliable spokes provide the support we need as we seek to make Christ the center of our lives.

A beautiful passage from the third chapter of Ephesians illustrates what we experience when we commit ourselves to living a Christ-centered life:

When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (vv. 14-19)

This was not simply Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians; it was his prayer for all who follow Christ—that we might experience Christ at home in our hearts; that we might experience the inner strength and fullness of life that come when we place Christ at the center of our lives. When Christ is at the center, we’re able to tap into the power available to us through the Holy Spirit. As we begin to trust Christ, we become more and more aware of how great his love for us actually is. This enables us to experience the fullness of life and power that comes from God, a fullness that provides the stability we need as we navigate...life.

With Christ at the center of your life...[t]he wheel you ride upon in life will provide a steady ride, despite speed bumps, potholes, and detours. You will be able to hold steady— balanced and ready to face the challenges of life!

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excerpt from: Finding Balance in a World of Extremes: Reflections from The Christ-Centered Woman by Kimberly Dunnam Reisman Copyright © 2013 by Abingdon Press. Used with permission.