Question: The accounting method that assigns cost to a specific activity is called activity-based costing, or ABC. The activities are grouped into cost pools, and each cost pool has a cost driver. Total overhead for the product is determined by the use of each cost pool. The goal of ABC is to eliminate non-value-added activities. The spiritual life includes many activities that contribute to spiritual growth and many that are not value-added, which reduce our spirituality. Like the accounting technique of ABC, we must continually evaluate our activities and determine their costs.

Read Matthew 16:24-28: "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?" (NIV). We can be consumed with activities-even good activities that help others-that sacrifice our own time with God. How hard is it to discern the difference between life's value-added activities and non-value-added activities?