Over the past few weeks, we’ve been slowing down around a simple order that Scripture has long held: be, do, have. Not as a framework to master or a formula to follow, but as a way of paying attention to where our lives are actually being shaped: before effort, before outcomes, before fruit. The way of Jesus has always moved in this direction.

We are invited to be with God before we are ever asked to do anything for Him. Presence comes first. Remaining. Abiding. Allowing ourselves to be seen and loved apart from performance. This is where formation begins.

Being with God is not a pause from real life. It is where real life is formed. It is where false selves loosen their grip and our truest identity is slowly restored.

From that place of being, we are invited to do. Not out of fear or pressure but out of love. Obedience becomes a response rather than a requirement, and faithfulness grows from intimacy, not urgency.

When we do from being, our lives begin to feel more aligned and less forced. We begin to discern what God is truly inviting us into, rather than reacting to every opportunity or demand. We learn what is ours to carry and what we are free to lay down.

Only then do we begin to have. Not in the way the world measures but in the way the kingdom grows. It’s fruit that forms quietly, peace that settles slowly and trust that deepens over time.

This order matters because the world around us lives by a very different one. In our culture, we are taught that we must have what we need to have so that we can be who we need to be, and then we can finally do what we need to do.

This way of living quietly teaches us to pursue security before identity and outcomes before obedience. It suggests that peace is something we earn once we’ve accumulated enough, achieved enough or proven ourselves. Unfortunately, this order always leaves us restless and exhausted.

There is always one more thing to have before we can finally become who we think we are meant to be. So we wait, striving and preparing, while life with God is happening all around us.

The way of Jesus turns this logic upside down.
He begins with being forming us in presence.
He invites obedience without guarantees.
Only then does He promise fruit.

As January comes to a close, don’t feel pressured to evaluate or assess. Rather approach this moment as an opportunity to return and notice where we’ve been striving, to release what we’ve been carrying and to MAKE ROOM again. He is the treasure. He is the prize.