Exemplar Coaching

Live by Design, Not by Default.

CoffeeChat 27 – Neglect

Edition  27

Neglect

Last Edition Recap
How have you applied the last edition to your life?
Opening Prayer
Gracious Lord, You’ve given us amazing ways to care for our souls; help us not take that for granted. Amen.
Introduction
You inherit something priceless—a vintage car, Victorian mansion, medieval castle, antique jewellery. Your choice. Extremely rare, highly valuable, yours forever. Bad news: it’s terribly neglected, run-down, falling apart. Good news: unlimited funds for restoration, but only for restoration. Would you restore it or leave it rotting? The answer seems obvious, yet we do exactly this with our souls. Neglect is never pretty. Buildings fall apart. Cars break down. Roads crumble. Animals become depressed and lost. Gardens grow wild and shapeless. Relationships turn insecure. When we neglect our souls, we experience all of this at once—falling apart, broken, crumbling, depressed, lost, wild, shapeless, insecure. “Out of sight, out of mind,” we say, because souls are invisible. Yet when life ends, nothing matters more than your soul’s state. Our souls are THE MOST precious items we possess. The Son of God purchased them with His blood. We have unlimited grace available for restoration. Daniel Defoe wrote: “The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond, and must be polished, or the lustre of it will never appear.” Yet we leave our diamonds unpolished, our souls unattended, whilst restoring things that will turn to dust.
Chat Point 1
  1. If you could inherit any priceless but neglected item with unlimited restoration funds, what would you choose?
  2. Why would you restore a vintage car but neglect your eternal soul?
  3. How does neglect manifest differently in physical things versus spiritual things?
  4. What makes it easier to ignore soul-neglect than physical neglect?
  5. If your soul’s condition was visible like a neglected building, what would it look like?
Read
Mark 8:31-38, Hebrews 2, Psalm 119:81, John 3:16-18
Key Focus
Hebrews 2:1 – “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”
Chat Point 2
  1. What stood out for you about the warning against drifting away?
  2. How does knowing Jesus purchased your soul with His blood change your view of neglect?
  3. What causes spiritual drift more—sudden rebellion or gradual neglect?
  4. What’s the difference between actively caring for your soul versus just not sinning?
  5. How can your group help members “pay careful attention” to their salvation?
Final Thought
We’d never leave a priceless inheritance to rot if we had unlimited restoration funds. Yet that’s exactly what we do with our souls—the only truly eternal possession we have. Hebrews warns us to pay the most careful attention, lest we drift away. Not sprint away, not leap away—drift. Neglect doesn’t announce itself. It whispers, “Later.” It suggests, “Tomorrow.” It promises, “When life slows down.” Meanwhile, the soul deteriorates like an abandoned mansion, room by room falling to ruin whilst we polish temporary things. The vintage car will rust again. The castle will crumble eventually. But your soul? Jesus considered it worth His blood. He offers unlimited grace for restoration—not just repair but complete renewal. The tragedy isn’t that restoration is unavailable; it’s that we leave the cheque uncashed, the grace unused, the soul unattended. We drift not because God moves but because we stop paying attention. Every neglected building was once beautiful. Every broken car once ran perfectly. Every wild garden was once cultivated. They didn’t fall apart in a day—they drifted into ruin through a thousand small neglects. Your soul works the same way.
My Action
What key insight or learning from this session resonates most with me, and what do I sense God is inviting me to do in response?
Shared Prayer
What are your prayer requests?​
Closing Prayer
Faithful God, help us not neglect our souls nor squander the salvation You purchased; keep us attentive until the end. Amen.
Like the community: www.facebook.com/CoffeeChatConnect
In-Between Chats: Personal Reflection
  1. What specific areas of soul-care have you been neglecting whilst maintaining other less important things?
  2. How does knowing Jesus paid for your soul with His life change what you’ll prioritise this week?
  3. What one practice could you begin to ensure you don’t drift away from what you’ve heard?
Edition Writer: Rev Kevin Zondagh

Methodist Minister, Personal Development Specialist, Life Coach, Relationship Coach and Executive Coach. Founder and Owner of Exemplar Coaching Pty Ltd and CoffeeChatConnect. "We should have the desire to custom design the only life we have. After-all, we buy designer everything. How much more should we Live by Design, not by default?"