I want to speak with you about planning for your future. When someone talks about making future plans, they typically revolve around finances and time management. Certainly, to plan for future you need to have a solid financial plan. In order to make the most of your days you need to practice a time management system. However, how you use your time and resources are secondary to self-leadership. Leading yourself will have a greater impact on the quality of your life and future than any strategies for time management and financial planning.

In Isaiah 32 the prophets speaks of the coming of a righteous king and his impact on both place and people. He contrasts the noble, those influenced to be like the king, and the fool who reject him. Isaiah 32:8 reads, "But he who is noble plans noble things, and on noble things he stands." There are two principles to withdraw for our purposes from the verse.

First, we are more sensitive and more easily influenced by the people and places we surround ourselves with than we care to admit. One study between 2012 and 2017 in Montgomery County, Maryland, compared speeding tickets with the release of movies from "The Fast and Furious" franchise. The study showed a correlation between the number of tickets issued, a greater rate of speed exceeding the speed limit, and the film’s release dates. Not only were more tickets given, but the drivers were driving faster than usual the weekends the movies were released. (Lauren Jett, “Movies Glorifying Fast Driving Cause Real Life Speeding,” Harvard Medical School, Feb. 9, 2018) We are influenced more easily than we care to admit.

Your future plans should include choosing well the places you go to and the people you invite into your life. The people you surround yourself with will shape your future.

Isaiah also encourages us to ask not who you want to be but rather whom you want to become. A person of noble character plans noble things. Planning is future-oriented. Dreaming of possibility. Investing in yourself for the future should involve dreaming about who your future self could be. Instead of asking yourself, "What do I want to do?" ask yourself, "Whom do I want to become?" Aim every day at becoming that person.

Faith and character are the most important investments you can make in your life. What you believe, who you aim at becoming, the people you surround yourself with, and the environments you seek out will determine the course of your life and eternity.