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Awareness Creates Opportunity (Strive For Five #1)

January 4, 2026

Awareness Creates Opportunity (Strive For Five #1) | Dr. Larry Baucom, Dr. Troy Doucet | January 4th, 2026

 

The conversation centers on the “Greatest Commandment”, loving God and loving others. Dr. Baucom introduces five pillars for 2026: Awareness, Quiet Time, Forgiveness, Generosity, and Humility. The dialogue emphasizes that spiritual growth is not about warm feelings, but about authentic love channeled toward others.

 

Point 1: Awareness Creates (and Reveals) Opportunity

Dr. Baucom equates spiritual awareness to “situational awareness” in self-defense. To live “awake” is to avoid dozing through the “miles” of life’s journey.

  • The Practice: Every day, whisper: “God loves me.”

  • The Logic: When we are aware of God’s love for us, it creates a channel for that love to flow toward others.

  • Theological Insight (Dr. Doucet): Awareness is not about acquiring new info, but “recovering consciousness.” He notes that while we live in chronos (clock-time), God deals in kairos, sacred, meaningful moments. We cannot love what we are unaware of.

Point 2: Awareness Finds Traction with Action

Awareness is the “eye,” but action is the “hand.” Dr. Baucom argues that many followers are “over-balanced” on the awareness side but lack action.

  • The Illustration: Dr. Baucom shares a story of a man stuck in a ditch. While others stood at a distance calling 911 or offering shouts of “advice,” the situation only changed when he physically stepped in to tow the car out.

  • The Balance: Awareness sees the need; action helps with the need.

  • Theological Insight (Dr. Doucet): Most people are “over-informed and under-practiced.” He warns against confusing “agreement with alignment.” In the New Testament, “love is not a concept to be mastered, but a movement to be joined.”

Point 3: Awareness & Action are Validated with Assurance

The final point focuses on the promise in Ephesians 5: “Awake, O sleeper… and Christ will shine on you.”

  • The Result: Responding to God leads to Assurance, the confident faith that Christ dwells within us and we are not alone. This creates a “spiritual feedback loop”: Awareness leads to Action, which leads to Assurance, which further fuels Awareness.

  • The Goal: Moving from a “Self-First” mentality to a “Compassionate” one.

  • Theological Insight (Dr. Doucet): We don’t act to earn the light; the light is a promise that empowers the act. Assurance turns effort into endurance, allowing us to navigate the 525,600 minutes of the year without burning out. Pastor Troy says, “I won’t burn out as long as it is Christ who does the shining!”

 

Key Takeaway for 2026

Stop “auditioning” for love and start embracing it. By whispering “God loves me,” you anchor your day in a reality that prevents grasping, comparing, and competing, allowing you to be present for the “ditch moments” in the lives of others.

Keep going with the series. Awareness was just the first of five pillars. Explore the rest of Strive For Five as we walk through quiet time, forgiveness, generosity, and humility.

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