Balancing Life's Roles: A Beacon of Hope on Life's Choppy Seas

By H. Jarrell Gibbs and Kay Johnson

Every day, we do our best to find the time to devote to work, family, and God. Yet despite our best efforts, we sometimes struggle to balance all our roles. The good news is that God has provided the answers we need within the Bible.

In an inspirational guide filled with scripture-based wisdom, H. Jarrell Gibbs, a seasoned Bible teacher, begins by identifying both the general and more specific roles we play in life; detailing the guidance God has provided through the Bible on how we should live to fulfill these various roles. Within the second section, he then addresses the various Christian attributes outlined in the Bible that will help everyone gain proper balance in the conduct of our various roles. Through this Biblical study, it is his prayer that all belivers come to realize that God’s Word holds the answers on how to thrive in every role we are divinely meant to fulfill while here on Earth.

Balancing Life’s Roles offers Biblical wisdom to remind believers to look to God’s Word first for the answers on how to confidently juggle all the roles of daily life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 31, 2024
• ISBN: 9798385023998

H. Jarrell Gibbs

H. Jarrell Gibbs is a Bible school teacher and avid student of God’s Word. He is a twenty-year veteran of the US Army who then spent over twenty years in the electric energy industry, retiring as president of TXU Corporation. He is a passionate public servant who has served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of York College and as Chairman of Texas A&M Research Foundation for several years.

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Copyright © 2024 H. Jarrell Gibbs.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Interior Image Credit: Kay Johnson

ISBN: 979-8-3850-2397-4 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-2398-1 (hc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-2399-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2024907865

WestBow Press rev. date: 5/16/2024

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Christianity Has No Compartments

Part 1: Roles We Play in This Life

Chapter 1 Whose Slaves Are We?

Chapter 2 Our Role as a Neighbor and Friend

Chapter 3 Our Role as Citizens

Chapter 4 Our Role in the Workforce

Chapter 5 Our Role as a Spouse

Chapter 6 Our Role as a Husband

Chapter 7 Our Role as a Wife

Chapter 8 Our Role as Parents

Chapter 9 Our Role as Children

Chapter 10 Our Role as Members of God’s Family

Chapter 11 Our Role as Retirees

Part 2: Attributes Needed for a Balanced Life

Chapter 12 Setting Goals

Chapter 13 Counting the Cost

Chapter 14 Establishing Priorities

Chapter 15 Seeking Counsel and Prayer

Chapter 16 Gaining Knowledge and Understanding

Chapter 17 Training and Practice

Chapter 18 Discipline, Self-Control, and Diligence

Chapter 19 Keeping Your Eye on the Goal

Chapter 20 Faith, Confidence, and Courage

Chapter 21 Commitment/Dedication, Endurance, and Patience

Final Words of Encouragement

Finish

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

There are many to thank for encouragement and assistance in writing this book. However, there are some special ones to whom I am indebted. The elders at the Church of Christ that I attended in Fort Worth, Texas, who had faith to allow the Young Marrieds’ Class the freedom to choose the subjects for Sunday morning Bible class. The young man who had the courage to speak up concerning the struggle he was having with priorities in his life. The Young Marrieds’ Class at the Webb Chapel Church of Christ, Farmers Branch, Texas, who, having studied The Roles We Play in life on Sunday mornings, encouraged me to write this book. Jim O’Neill, my AYCO Co. financial adviser, who at the end of one of our face-to-face sessions wrote on the back of a card, finish the book and laid it on my desk; it stayed there a number of years. Kay Johnson, who dedicated her time and talents in providing the sketches. Tim Gibbs, my son and preacher at the Church of Christ in Daingerfield, Texas, who writes thoughtful Sunday bulletin articles, several of which are quoted in this book. Jeff Baskin, my son-in-law, who spent countless time and effort in editing the manuscript.

INTRODUCTION

The genesis of this book occurred in about 1989. I was teaching a young married class at the Church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas. We were looking for a subject for the next series of Bible study, and one of the young men of the class suggested that he was having trouble finding the time required for his work, his family, and church. The clear implication was that these were competing segments of his life, and he was struggling to find time for each.

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I wasn’t sure how we might tackle his problem in Bible class but found his dilemma to be a common problem and surely one in which the Bible had something to offer. The more I thought about his statement, the more I became aware that part of the problem was with the notion of compartmentalization. That is, part of the struggle was with trying to live at least three lives (work, family, and church) rather than seeing life as one with various roles to be played along the way. This characterization was well captured by Kyle Butt in his article Balanced Congregations Address Social Issues (Gospel Advocate, November 2019, 26), which states:

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CHRISTIANITY HAS NO

COMPARTMENTS

I once heard the story of a Christian who lied about his salary to a future employer. He bragged about this course of action because he used the lie to negotiate for a higher salary. He justified his actions by claiming it was just good business. In his mind, he put business in one compartment of his life and separated it from the Christianity compartment.

Unfortunately, many Christians think this compartmental approach is ideal. They don’t let their Christianity compartment affect their entertainment, sexual, business, political, or recreational compartments. Jesus gets His slice of their lives; but it is only one sliver, and the rest belongs to them.

This cannot be the case for the faithful Christian. Jesus demanded we love God with all of our hearts, souls, and minds (Matt. 22:34–40). True Christians have no business compartments or entertainment compartments. Jesus’s example permeates and directs every aspect of their lives.

When that is the case, it translates into social action. A Christian doctor cannot sit in a pew on Sunday morning and embrace the teachings of Christ about the value of little children but on Monday set this value aside and perform abortions, contending she is only doing her job.

The Christian CEO cannot teach a Bible class discussing treating others as we want them to treat us but then cheat employees out of money they have earned to preserve the company’s bottom line (James 5:1–6).

The Christian military officer cannot amen the teachings about the tongue in James 3 but the next day cuss the new recruits.

Christ always did His Father’s will in every aspect of His life just as we should strive to do.

If we are to follow His example (1 Tim. 1:16; 1 Pet. 2:21) we must do the same.

This led to an enumeration of the various roles one might assume in life and what God’s word had to say about each role. Thus, the beginning of a yearlong Bible study.

The second idea as to the need for such a book came some years, and hopefully some maturity, later as I saw disciples of the Lord look everywhere for answers in dealing with their daily struggles except the primary source, the Bible. Somewhere along the way, many of us have been guilty of thinking of the Bible as a guide for our spiritual life as something apart and different from our everyday life. Therefore, many of us have spent enormous amounts of time and money seeking professional advice in coping with the demands of our daily lives while the Bible either gathers dust or is used to seek God’s advice only on spiritual matters.

Seeking answers to how one should live any role in life, and not searching the Bible first, is like the old country and western song titled Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places. Or the death of King Saul partly because he sought the counsel of a medium and did not seek the counsel of the Lord (1 Chron. 10:13–14).

Living and Active

—By Tim Gibbs

The writer of Hebrews says, For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account (Heb. 4:12–13). There are those in our world who would disagree with the description of God’s word as alive and active. In fact, they would claim that the Bible is an outdated, antiquated, irrelevant book. This kind of thinking