Here's one word I never want attached to me: “WORTHLESS.” I don't want any of my activities, achievements or pursuits falling into that category either. As much as possible, I want my life to be sound and purpose-driven. The games I play, time I spend, dreams and goals I chase and life I live need to matter. Do you feel the same way?

To avoid the “worthless” tag, God's Word gives some specifics. It teaches us that when we commit to worthless things, eventually we get contaminated and can get tagged as ”worthless” too. So take a good look at seven worthless pursuits marked in this chapter:

1. Rejecting God's decrees and forsaking His commands
2. Making gods out of things created
3. Doing the forbidden
4. Bowing down to cheap imitations of the Real Thing
5. Worshiping sex and centering my life around fantasy
6. Messing with things that predict my future other than God in His Word
7. Selling out to enemies of my soul, believing compromise is sometimes acceptable, and that I can't expect God to defend me every time

Here's a better seven that adds worth to life:

1. Avoiding worthless risk
2. Worshiping the Creator, not the creation
3. Remembering that sex gods screw me
4. Reserving my worship for God in Christ alone
5. Giving no place to mysticisms, dark powers and easy secrets to success and future significance
6. Staying out of the dark and living in the light
7. Being mindful that spending money without morals always brings harm and danger, and that money spent with good principles in mind always is better

Reflect: Athlete, what's a potentially worthless pursuit in your life? Is it stripping your worth? What's a worthwhile pursuit that simply must be maintained?

Prayer to consider today: LORD, keep my life from worthless things. Fill me with a sense of nobility, purpose and worth like only You can. Your honor is my aim.