Religion and Theology

All of us have more to do than we will ever get done. (CHAPTER 4, PAGE 58).
This sentence is very meaningful because it underscores the main cause of cheating in life  the fact that we are all too busy and there seems to be virtually no time to do some things. Apparently, we end up more like machines that can keep doing all else but talking to one another. The sentence explains how the notion that there is not enough time has exacerbated the cheating problem where we cheat on ourselves, our loved ones, and most important of all, on our beloved God. As such, we cannot get any benefit whatsoever until we realize that try as we may we will never accomplish all we intend to be accomplished. The best way to go is, therefore, to ensure that we do only what we can do in the assigned time and leave the rest for another time.

Dont cheat the people who love you most. (CHAPTER 9, PAGE 124).
This sentence is important because it strikes the nail on the head and makes us understand where the problem lies - cheating people who matter to us, the people who can come closest to giving their all just to have us.  This is so because the person who loves you is the person who needs you most. They are people like spouses or prospective spouses, children, friends, mentors, mentees, and friends both in church and outside church. Another one is God who has declared to us that He will neither leave us nor forsake us and who loved us to the point of giving His only begotten Son for us. As such, it is very wrong to cheat such people because they feel the love they have for you is not being reciprocated  because cheating indicates a lack of sincerity.

God isnt looking for workaholics and overachievers to build his church he is looking for people of character and integrity, and part of that integrity is commitment to ones family. (CHAPTER 7, PAGE 95).

The value of this sentence is in the way it sets apart fact from fiction and myth derived from common practice. Many people think that by failing to give their time to their families by being physically present and instead working a lot hard to achieve something in life they believe is beneficial for the family then they are pleasing God. That is untrue. Instead, God values the unity and oneness of the family unit more than He values hard work for self-achievement. God wants people of integrity and character which can be depicted through failure to lie because of having failed to attend to family needs and instead doing the right thing at the right time even when not one person is watching.

Daily you make decisions to give up one thing in order to gain something else. (INTRODUCTION, PAGE 10).

This sentence is critical owing to its blatant and direct way if giving a solution to the problem of cheating. Given that the main cause of cheating loved ones of their time and commitment is being too busy trying to do many things which never seem to be getting done to completion  and which will actually never get finished  the solution is to forego some for the sake of attending to others. This is like the basic economic principle of opportunity cost and choice  foregoing the less valuable things for the purpose of gaining the others. A choice has to be made and the choice is to be made based on priority. Loved ones must be given priority over any other thing.

In time, you will discover that when you prioritize correctly at work and home, God willhonor you in both arenas. (CHAPTER 9, PAGE 122).

This sentence emphasizes the value of prioritizing. It asserts that it is not when we make our loved ones to be of greater value than anything else and give them our time that God will move in our lives and bless both our work and our home. This is the exact opposite of what we tend to do in our natural tendencies to be perfect  working and asking God to bless our families through our hard work. It ought to be them other way round.

PART TWO RATE YOURSELF
The main area of concern currently is my work. I tend to give a lot of time to my work, going to the extent of working overtime so as to meet my financial goals and live the life I desire. Actually, I have believed that the harder I work at my job the more I will be able to better serve the people who love me because I tend to associate money with ability to meet all needs. In the future, the challenge will most likely be in the area of commitment to God and family as I even go further and use my extra time for self development career wise.

PART THREE A CONVERSATION
Sean is a lovely fellow and more importantly a friend of mine. Being the older and more advanced than he is, he looks up to me for guidance on many issues - I am his mentor. When I asked him of what he thought about my performance of my role to him as a friend and a mentor, he confessed that although I was good at doing my roles, I performed poorly because I seemed to lack the time to do the roles. It was a confession pointing to the fact that although was a high achiever at times, all this was unnecessary because I failed terribly at other times.  He cited my seemingly lack of commitment, and said that if only I would be present for him at the right time all would be okay. The rating was therefore mixed  capable but unavailable, and so in need of improvement. He suggested that I become more committed to the relationship by finding more time for him. What Sean told me was not at all new to me as I had always thought I was not being genuine enough with him and was instead seeking for false answers to cover up my failures. I felt terribly inadequate and really repentant, but my mind was still unclear how I could manage to juggle between work and friendship successfully.

PART FOUR SAFEGUARDS
I currently have no safeguards in place but I plan to pout the following in place in the future now that I understand where the problem really lies

To set aside a specific amount of time every day to be with my family, friends, and God.
To strictly take the minimum acceptable hours at work so that a lot more of my time is allocated to family, friends, and God.

Never to have any other duties on non-working days except those I undertake with my family and my friends, or for God.

Never to start any day without having had spend time with God in prayer, quiet time, reading the Word, and meditation for at least one hour depending on the schedule of the day.

Assigning my leisure (out of work) time in order of priority among my family members, God, friends, and my own leisure activities.

Getting an accountability partner, a senior figure in my life, to help in the assessment of my progress one this is in place.

To have my progress evaluated by all my loved ones and adjustments made accordingly.