Hope For Tomorrow!

In Jesus’ time, people presented the obstacles and the impossibilities that resulted from them.  The blind man by the pool of water, the man called Lazarus who was dead when Jesus arrived, the woman who was a prostitute, the tax collector who was not to be trusted and despised by many, and so forth.  In each of those situations, Jesus didn’t see the obstacle or the difficulty, but rather the possibilities, and miracles happened.  

 

We need to always hold on to the hope and the promise that all things are possible if we believe that God’s grace is sufficient to carry us through the obstacles.  Today more than ever, the world is focused on the impossibilities but we have hope.  We can learn to love our neighbors, refrain from criticism and gossip, reject hate, help those in need, and make the world a better place.  Working together, we can ensure our hope for tomorrow becomes today’s reality.  Blessings!

Loving God's Way!

God gave us two great commandments outlined in Matthew 22:37-40. We are to “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

He does not stop there, he goes on to provide us His definition of love found in 1 Corinthians 13, which states: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails..."

Practicing love as God defines it assures us we won't fail. Perhaps it is easier said than done, but I'm never going to stop trying. Just a little advice to go!

Unity In Christ

Today more than ever, we see the finger pointing and accusations of ungodliness and betrayal levied by christians against their family members, fellow christians, and even unbelievers.  I focus each day and morning on doing all I can to be Christ centered, a reflection of His love and His word, for His glory.  That precludes me from pointing the finger, something God had to reveal to me.  It demands that every thing I say and do be for his honor and glory, not for mine.  We are to honor each other as believers as we are called to love the broken and disenfranchised, to care for the lost, and to love others as Christ loved them.  

Let our actions serve not to glorify ourselves, but rather to glorify and honor God.  Neither will happen if our actions reflect condemnation and disrespect towards each other.  Christ saved us by His sacrifice on the cross, that we might be saved by His grace; His unmerited favor.  We should be praying for God to let our light shine so bright that others might see our good works and glorify God.  This is not about us, but about living every day for God’s glory, letting His light shine brightly.  Let us be united in Christ!  Just a little advice to go! 

Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.  Matthew 5:16

Always Being Right, Isn't Right!

There is nothing more competitive than seven boys living in a three-bedroom apartment struggling because of the poverty within which you are being raised.  You are trapped in that apartment competing for your mother's attention, competing to see who gets served first so that the quantity of food on your plate isn't less because you are last, competing to see who can finish first just in case there is an opportunity for a second serving, competing to see who will get the next new pair of sneakers because the money isn't sufficient for all seven to so you take turns, and so forth.  Yes, seven boys in a 3 bedroom apartment surviving off the income of a bartender, my dad's profession, leads to a great deal of competition, and that eventually leads to a battle to demonstrate that you know more than your siblings.

Imagine raising 7 boys pretty much all by yourself in a three-bedroom apartment.  Seven boys who despite your greatest efforts never stop competing for your attention and love, who are always competing to demonstrate that each is more RIGHT than the other.  With each of us only being about a year apart in age, we became competitive.  So, what does this have to do with always being right?  Well, the more competitive you become the more right you want to be and before you know it you are more focused on being right than doing right.  Yes, being right becomes blinding and your determination to be right can lead to alienating yourself from others, who would occasionally appreciate your acknowledging they are right.  It makes you defensive as others try to explain why you are wrong, blinding you to the opportunity to grow and learn from their experiences and knowledge.  

Age has a funny way of helping us expand our minds and begin to realize that so many of the times we thought we were right, we were actually wrong or no more right than the other person.  We believed we are right based on the knowledge we possessed at that point in our lives, but if that knowledge is flawed or based on a truth was not true, then we were wrong.  With age comes wisdom, the ability to think and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense, and insight. It is often associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledge, and virtues such as ethics and benevolence.   If you take time to think about past decisions you have made, you may begin to note how often you thought you were right and were not.  You come to realize that it is not about being right all the time, but about recognizing when you are wrong and learning from that mistake.  Perhaps you will realize, as I have, that being right is not as important as developing relationships with those around you and learning to celebrate when they are right.  Appreciating the positions of others and recognizing that discourse about contradictory positions is not about who is more right, but about the opportunity to build relationships and learn from the experiences of others.  

Today, so many are debating about why they are right and the other person is wrong, that discourse has become illogical and divisive. The need to prove that one position is more right than the other has resulted in the inability to think beyond the constraints of our own knowledge.  We are too busy trying to be right, we can't even conceive the fact that we could be or are wrong.  Today, I realize that there on more occasions thank I would like to admit, what I thought was right in the past was wrong.  I look back and think how foolish I was and how I need to be very careful to not be so focused on being right, that I fail to see when I am wrong.  Today, I am more than willing to let others be right and to respect where they are in their journey rather than focusing on always being right because that just isn't right!  Just a little advice to go! 

Reflecting God's Grace

 A while back I decided to quit facebook because I felt it was doing more harm than good.  Today, I hear from so many with Facebook accounts about the hard feelings and decisiveness resulting from postings by friends, family members, and believers regarding their positions on social events and politics.  What may folks do not realize is that Facebook, like many other social platforms, collects data on all of us which is then shared with or sold to others who use it to manipulate each of us based on our positions regarding faith, politics, social events and much more.  

For people of faith, critical platforms such as abortion and pro-choice are used to generate specific messages on our respective Facebook pages to lead us from one site to another bolstering our beliefs and demonizing anyone who believes different.  In the end, we become polarized to the point where we fail to hear another person's perspective or worse yet, react to it with anger and disdain.  In the end, we are more divided along political lines and faith from other believers, friends and family than ever before.  

Most concerning is the reality that people of faith have aligned themselves with positions that contradict the biblical teachings and principles critical to living a faith based life.  As people of faith, we cannot align ourselves with those who preach hate, condemnation, vindictiveness, verbal abuse, and physical violence.  We should not be manipulated into forgetting that we are called to love our enemies, to forgive them, to share God's word with them and to lead them by living in accordance with the biblical principles which are a testimony to our faith in Christ.  Included in these are the two great commandments Christ gave us, love the lord thy God with all your heart, soul, and mind and love your neighbor as you love yourself.  If we adhere to these two commandments, then we should find a place in our hearts for those who are different as demonstrated by Christ on many occasions.  We can impact those around us by the grace we demonstrate towards them, a grace that will help us learn to be respectful towards each other.  Just a little advice to go! 

Certain about Uncertainty

You can be certain that uncertainty is certain.  Perhaps a play on words, but the reality is that many leaders make the mistake of expecting certainty when life is everything but certain.  Good leaders understand that life is not linear, that despite our best efforts we will encounter unexpected obstacles and challenges.  The problem is not the obstacle or challenge, but rather how we react when they occur. 

Good leaders work to ensure they limit uncertainty but are prepared to respond when the unexpected occurs.  Rather than panic, make excuses, or look for someone to blame, good leaders react.  They take the necessary steps to rally the team to come up with a solution for overcoming the unexpected.  They trust their teams and their teams trust them.  That trust enables them to work collaboratively to find a way to overcome the challenge/obstacle and achieve the desired goal.  Just a little advice to go! 

Leading in Difficult Times

Leading in difficult times requires focusing on some basic leadership principles we sometimes take for granted.  The first of these is that we as leaders are given a great responsibility to care for those individuals entrusted to us.  We are leading people and thus responsible for their care, a critical reality considering the current pandemic.  It means adjusting expectations to account for the stress our team members are experiencing; stress related to working from home, to the fears of becoming ill, or resulting from a loved one being diagnosed with CoVid-19.  Whatever the cause, we need to remember that leading is not about us, it is about those we lead and ensuring they have the necessary support to navigate through this difficult crisis.  Those who have empowered and entrusted us to lead on their behalf expect no less of us as leaders.

Second, we need to remember that our leadership role is temporary, we will all move on from our current roles.  For some, it will be a promotion to another position or a move to another company for a more fulfilling role or better pay.  Whatever the reason, we need to avoid getting too comfortable and the assumption that our current leadership role is permanent because regardless of our tenure, we will move on.  This means we have a limited time to do our best, to lead with excellence.  It means staying focused on making sure our teams have all they need to be successful, that every team member is addressed based on their individual circumstances.

Thirdly, we need to remember that we are accountable for our roles as leaders.  We are accountable to those who have chosen us to lead and to those whom we have chosen to lead.  That accountability requires us to consider the type of leaders we are going to be, leaders focused on ourselves or leaders focused on those we serve.  Servant leaders understand that leading is about serving others, we provide balance to ensure we stay centered on our organizational mission and values, never sacrificing either because of any one person.  We do this while remembering who we are and ensuring we never bend on those critical values all leaders should practice.  Everything we do should align with being respectfully honest, practicing excellence, being accountable, and working as a team.

Leadership is difficult in any given situation but during difficult times, it is critical that we as leaders remember we are responsible for those we lead, that our roles are temporary or seasonal, and that we will be held accountable for how we conduct ourselves.  Just a little advice to go!