Contributed by Adeline Ting • Sep 22, 2026

I have an unfinished temple. Though I laid the foundations strong during my varsity years, I became distracted, and I started making excuses for not tending to the building of the temple. In all honesty, the building of the temple was at a snail’s pace because I was too busy building my family, my career, my future. I tell myself I will focus on God when my child is more independent, when I am doing well at work, when I have saved enough for my retirement; basically, I will focus on God when my future is secured. Looking back, the plan was utterly absurd. There will never be a time where the circumstances are perfect for me to finally focus on God.

As the years passed, life taught me lessons that constantly drew me back to God. His faithfulness has been and is unceasing. This made me realise that while I may have achieved much, I do feel a pang of dismay when I look over at the unfinished temple. Am I responding to His call as I should? How can I start rebuilding the unfinished temple? I did an honest examination of my own priorities and started to choose to honour God with my time and my resources. And so, I started with baby steps. I started dedicating more time to Him, learning more about Him and understanding His heart. I began to serve in ministries as well, hoping to share His love with others. I started prioritising Him rather than with the leftover scraps of my time. And as I start rebuilding, I am learning to put Him first in all that I do, and I hope He will take pleasure in my obedience to glorify Him. And so, yes, my temple building is a work in progress. It is unfinished, for I am still building, but I do so with greater intentional effort, sacrifice and perseverance.