Loyalty...such a menial trait in today's world. It seems as if loyalty is a passing theme. Nobody ever wants to be loyal past their own selfish desires. We no longer care about the big picture nor do we care about sticking around and helping the "big picture" come to pass. We are only as loyal as our own comfort levels allow us to be. We have reached a point where it doesn't matter what the goal is or how far we've gotten toward the goal, if our feelings or pride is hurt, or we feel like the side we're on stopped being the right side we will up and quit and move on.
In the book of Revelation Jesus says "I would that you were hot or cold, but since you are lukewarm I will spew you out of my mouth." This hot or cold that he wants you to be is loyal to something beyond your comfort level. But nowadays we are lukewarm. We try not to commit to anything just in case it's the wrong choice. We decide to quit at the slightest sign of trouble or struggle. This is hurting us in the long run though. There are so many blogs and articles saying it's alright to quit. We are destroying our future due to our inability to stay "in it" for the long run.
I notice this trend in all areas of life. Leaders are only good as long as they're pleasing the people. Once that goes out the window then we throw leaders under the bus. We as a people have made it to where leaders must be loyal to us instead of us being loyal to them. We place unreachable standards on them and crucify them when they don't live up to them. We need to stop this or else how will we teach our children about loyalty. How can we train our kids to stay committed to something bigger than themselves if we are unwilling to. We show our kids that it's alright to place great burdens on leaders and if they can't maintain their composure then we can bring them down.
I read in a book, I think it was called the mind of the samurai, that water chooses a path and sticks to it. When we choose to follow someone or choose to join an organization, or choose to get married, we need to learn how to stay committed to our choices through the good and the bad. Our loyalty should not only be to the people we decide to follow or commit to, but our loyalty should be to our commitment also. If you can't be loyal to your commitments or your word then can you even call yourself loyal, and if not loyal trustworthy?
Showing posts with label Learned. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Learned. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Friday, December 2, 2011
In Followership: Don’t get brought down by backstabbers
If you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing and you’re loyal to the organization then backstabbers can’t hurt you too much. There are always going to be people that are opposed to you or what you’re trying to do. They may not realize that that’s what they’re doing. Sometimes people will set you up for failure by mentioning something you may have said to the wrong person. Not all backstabbing is intentional, but it happens all the same. The thing about working with people in an organization that you’re not in charge of is you will most likely end up being competition instead of a fellow laborer in the mission at hand. We all, at one point or another, look at our coworkers or peers in whatever organization that we’re in as competition. This is natural. So we all, at one point or another, do something that can be perceived as throwing somebody under the bus or backstabbing, even if we were just trying to cover up something that we may have said or done.
We cannot let this type of stuff get us down, for the simple fact that most of the time it’s unintentional, and even when it is intentional, what can you really do about it. We should be focused on how we carry ourselves around our peers and what we say so that when there is a misunderstanding or something is said about us to our boss that it isn’t true. For example one time at work somebody told my boss that I was lazy because I didn’t do something that wasn’t in my job description nor was it something that I had training on. I was upset at first but when it was brought to my attention, I was able to pass along the truth of the matter. I didn’t go start an argument, and I didn’t let it bother me to the point that it would create any tension in the workplace. I just let it go. These things happen; we cannot let them affect our performance or attitude at work. We need to just let it go, learn from it but let it go.
I say let it go because these situations will occur more frequently throughout our career than we would like. We can’t get upset and allow ourselves to be stressed every time it happens. Instead we should use it as a learning experience. We learn by knowing who not to talk to about certain things, who to speak with on a strictly professional basis, who to stay away from…etc. Every time I feel betrayed by somebody I have to take a step back and replay the whole situation. Usually it’s innocent. Most people don’t realize what they’ve said could bring negative consequences to somebody else, or we don’t say “please don’t repeat this but” things just have a way of getting away from us. As I said, we’ve done it to others just as they’ve done it to us. We shouldn’t feel betrayed. A part of being a follower is maintaining a certain level of discipline no matter what comes our way. We are not the organization, but a part of the organization, we are not in charge but subordinate to somebody else. So for us to cause tension or make a scene because we feel betrayed is disrespecting the organization and the people that are leading us.
In the Bible God says that what you do to the least of these you do to me, and what you don’t do to the least of these you don’t do to me. It’s the same in an organization, if somebody lies on you then they’re lying on the organization, but if they are pointing out a flaw then that’s a flaw in the organization. We cannot carry ourselves as an individual when involved in something bigger than ourselves. We must see the bigger picture always. If somebody went behind our back and it was true then that is good for the collective. I know this is easier said than done, and I probably wouldn’t want to look at it this way if I was the person going through this. But it is a lesson that we must learn. We were hired to do a specific role in an organization with a certain vision. If we can’t live up to the role or if it comes out that we’re not living up to the role then the part that we play is in jeopardy of failing, which completely contradicts the purpose of us being there. This must be exposed, so that the problem can be fixed. We can’t take it personally.
The only thing we can do to combat this is to be blameless. As I said we must do what we know to do so that if somebody stabs us in the back we are doing what we’re supposed to be doing and it shows. We as followers need to always have proof that we’re doing our job to the standard that was established prior to us showing up, or even at a higher standard than was established. We must make ourselves a valuable part of our organization so that if somebody says something bad about us, it’ll be looked at by our leaders as a misunderstanding instead of a fact. We need to remove any future doubt by our present work.
Monday, November 28, 2011
In Leadership: Followership
We live in a time where although people are starting to touch on followership more and more, they are still primarily focusing on leadership. There are more books on how to be a great leader then there are on how to support a great leader, or even worse, a bad leader. These are principles that need to be taught in more forums across the business spectrum. In the military we got taught a great deal about being a good leader and nothing really about being a follower. We did get taught about following orders to a certain degree, but they weren’t teaching seminars on it. We don’t really realize how to be a follower until we become a leader. But by then it’s all about our ideas and us trying to figure out ways to move our organization forward. We get taught what to do if we run into a troubled subordinate, but not what to do if we run into a horrible boss. This is damaging to so many people’s careers. There are people who have gotten kicked out of the military and fired from jobs because they were never taught how to follow somebody that they didn’t see eye to eye with. So instead of being able to cope with the situation with a level head they rebel. This is the generation that we live in. We get told to shut up and color, or just do the work, but not how to do it with the stress of dealing with an idiot. But it’s so important for us to learn how to follow that it should be taught as thoroughly as leadership is. This is actually something that should be taught in high school, or throughout Jr. High School, before people reach the work force. If you don’t learn how to be a follower until you show up for your first job then it’s going to be a rough road ahead, which is something many of us find out the hard way.
We do get taught some forms of followership from a very young age though. We get taught how to follow rules by our parents, we get taught about not showing up late, and how to turn in assignments on time in school. We learn how to respect authority all though life from our parents to teachers and people in uniform, and yet we still never fully grasp the concept of being a follower. As we grow up we also get taught to be our own person, to be a leader and not a follower, to set the example, that we can be whatever it is we want to be as long as we set our minds to it. But we can only be by learning how, and only learn how by following. We need to stop telling our kids to not be followers, that puts a stigma on submitting to authority figures and our future bosses. Instead we need to tell them to not follow people that are going nowhere, or people that are getting into trouble. We need to tell them that we must be mentored in order to accomplish our goals, and that without being mentored, or following we will never be what we want to be because people won’t waste their time on somebody that they can’t train.
Being a follower isn’t negative when it’s done in the proper setting, in this post I’m not talking about followers of criminal organizations, or followers of people whose life is on a self destructive road to oblivion. Instead I’m talking about being a follower in an organization that will lead you on the road to success or self improvement or community involvement. In this case being a follower is positive. It causes you to be recognized as a team player, a person who can receive instruction and get the job done, somebody who is not afraid of correction because they know the end result is the building up of the organization. When we are able to follow we are showing that we know we don’t know everything but we are willing to learn.
As a follower we must be ready, willing and able to always have the back of the person or people leading us. No matter what our feelings are towards these people. We cannot let personal feelings get in the way of doing the job that’s laid before us. We do not come on board with an opinion. If we have a negative opinion about our leaders to the point that we can’t do a good job or refuse to do the job then we need to move out of the way so somebody else can do the job. We have to know that we are serving something bigger then ourselves and the overall accomplishment of whatever task we were given is what’s important. Too many times we as followers try to put ourselves above the person or people leading us. But the problem is we’re not the leader so we are only working against ourselves when we do this.
When we are being led, we need to know that if we come up with an idea that the idea should be in line with the vision of the organization and be prepared to either have in depth details on our idea or do the idea to have something that worked so we can present it. We also cannot be hurt if our ideas are rejected, because the completion of the mission or the furtherance of the vision is what’s important not our ideas.
Followers must be able to build a rapport with the leader or leaders. It is the job of the person following to make sure that the people or person in charge is comfortable with you, not the other way around. When we are in a subordinate role it is our responsibility to prove our trustworthiness. If you can’t trust your leadership then you’re in the wrong organization. If your leadership can’t trust you then it’s your problem to solve. We must be a person that when the people that we follow think of us they think of somebody that is willing to get the job done at all costs. Not somebody that will try to get away with murder.
As followers we must be able to work well with others. It doesn’t matter what somebody has done to us, or who we don’t like, for the sake of the corporate body that we’re apart of we must get along. When we show up we need to put aside all differences of opinion and work to achieve one common goal. If you are unwilling to do this then the people you work for might be unwilling to trust you or unwilling to keep you employed. We must remember our feelings are not what’s important.
We must learn to follow with a form of dignity and selflessness that will show others that we are here to do what’s required of us, not here to cause a problem for those around us or above us.
Monday, November 7, 2011
In Christianity: Christ Crucified
CHRIST CRUCIFIED
1 Corinthians 2:1-2
And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of
speech or of wisdom declaring to you the *testimony of God. 2 For I
determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him
crucified.
Nowadays we're preaching the Gospel to non believers with Wisdom, and
trying to give the complexities of God. Teaching people about the
fruits of the Spirit, and the Parables of Christ. But the 1st thing we
should preach to them is Christ Crucified. This is the foundation of
our religion, that Jesus Christ died for our sins. That he was
sacrificed so that His blood can cover us. If it wasn't for this
selfless deed then nothing else would matter, we would still be in our
sin, we Gentiles would still be worshipping our gods, instead of GOD.
So in this email I'll be talking about Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.
Some might think that the only place it talks about Jesus Christ's
crucifixion is in the New Testament. However those of us that really
know God, and are in the word, know that our God is a Thorough God. And
if there is anything that we should place Close attention to in the
Bible then it's repeated throughout the bible. Well this is the same
thing that happens when He talks about the crucifixion. Jesus Christ's
crucifixion is prophesied about throughout the Old Testament by the
Prophets and by David. God did this so that when the time came for
Jesus to be sacrificed for us that there would be no doubt about what
was happening. Like I said we serve a Thorough God. He is not the
author of confusion. He won't leave you wondering. If God does
something, he'll let you know what's about to happen so when it does
happen you'll know that it was God, and nobody else but God. So the
Following verses are going to help us to understand Jesus Christ and Him
crucified more. The most amazing thing to me besides God, is him
showing me how His prophesies come true.
Isaiah 53:4-12
4 Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His
stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He
was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers
is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His
generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions
of My people He was stricken.
9 And *they made His grave with the wicked-- But with the rich at His
death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He
shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in
His hand.
11 *He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall
bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall
divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto
death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin
of many, And made intercession for the transgressors
Mathew 27:35
35 Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:
"They divided My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots."*
Psalms 22:18
18 They divide My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots
Mathew 37:38
Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another
on the left.
Isaiah 53:9
9 And *they made His grave with the wicked--
Mathew 37:43
43 He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for
He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"
Psalms 22:8
8 "He *trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him,
since He delights in Him!"
Mathew 37:46
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying,
"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You
forsaken Me?"* Psalms 22:1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Mathew 37:57-60
Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named
Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. 58 This man
went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded
the body to be given to him. 59 When Joseph had taken the body, he
wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his new tomb which
he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the
door of the tomb, and departed.
Isaiah 53:9
9 And *they made His grave with the wicked-- But with the rich at His
death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
John 19:31-34
Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should
not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high
day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that
they might be taken away. 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs
of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. 33 But when
they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break
His legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and
immediately blood and water came out.
Psalms 34:20
He guards all his bones;
Not one of them is broken
Psalms 22:14
I am poured out like water
Luke 24:34
34 *Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what
they do."
Isaiah 53:12
And made intercession for the transgressors
I'll stop here, but there is so much more, I just did this to show you
why this is important. There is soo much in the bible about Jesus, more
then what is shown in the Gospels. So many prophecies to let us know
that he truly is the Messiah. This is why Paul said that I came to you
knowing nothing else but Christ crucified, because once you can
understand Christ crucified then it will make you appreciate being a
Christian that much more. God loves us so much that he told us that
Jesus was going to come, and be a Savior not only for the Jews but also
for the Gentiles, he told us that Jesus was going to suffer for us so
that we might be saved. Jesus knew what he had to do long before he was
Crucified, and yet he Loved us so much that he went through with it
anyways. Can you imagine being able to read in the bible about
yourself, and know everything that you're going to suffer for people
that won't appreciate it until you've suffered. That's love, that's
AGAPE We need to start being more obedient, to show Jesus that it
wasn't in Vain. That we truly appreciate what he did for us. It was no
small thing.
1 Corinthians 2:1-2
And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of
speech or of wisdom declaring to you the *testimony of God. 2 For I
determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him
crucified.
Nowadays we're preaching the Gospel to non believers with Wisdom, and
trying to give the complexities of God. Teaching people about the
fruits of the Spirit, and the Parables of Christ. But the 1st thing we
should preach to them is Christ Crucified. This is the foundation of
our religion, that Jesus Christ died for our sins. That he was
sacrificed so that His blood can cover us. If it wasn't for this
selfless deed then nothing else would matter, we would still be in our
sin, we Gentiles would still be worshipping our gods, instead of GOD.
So in this email I'll be talking about Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.
Some might think that the only place it talks about Jesus Christ's
crucifixion is in the New Testament. However those of us that really
know God, and are in the word, know that our God is a Thorough God. And
if there is anything that we should place Close attention to in the
Bible then it's repeated throughout the bible. Well this is the same
thing that happens when He talks about the crucifixion. Jesus Christ's
crucifixion is prophesied about throughout the Old Testament by the
Prophets and by David. God did this so that when the time came for
Jesus to be sacrificed for us that there would be no doubt about what
was happening. Like I said we serve a Thorough God. He is not the
author of confusion. He won't leave you wondering. If God does
something, he'll let you know what's about to happen so when it does
happen you'll know that it was God, and nobody else but God. So the
Following verses are going to help us to understand Jesus Christ and Him
crucified more. The most amazing thing to me besides God, is him
showing me how His prophesies come true.
Isaiah 53:4-12
4 Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His
stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He
was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers
is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His
generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions
of My people He was stricken.
9 And *they made His grave with the wicked-- But with the rich at His
death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He
shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in
His hand.
11 *He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall
bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall
divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto
death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin
of many, And made intercession for the transgressors
Mathew 27:35
35 Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:
"They divided My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots."*
Psalms 22:18
18 They divide My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots
Mathew 37:38
Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another
on the left.
Isaiah 53:9
9 And *they made His grave with the wicked--
Mathew 37:43
43 He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for
He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"
Psalms 22:8
8 "He *trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him,
since He delights in Him!"
Mathew 37:46
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying,
"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You
forsaken Me?"* Psalms 22:1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Mathew 37:57-60
Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named
Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. 58 This man
went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded
the body to be given to him. 59 When Joseph had taken the body, he
wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his new tomb which
he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the
door of the tomb, and departed.
Isaiah 53:9
9 And *they made His grave with the wicked-- But with the rich at His
death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
John 19:31-34
Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should
not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high
day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that
they might be taken away. 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs
of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. 33 But when
they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break
His legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and
immediately blood and water came out.
Psalms 34:20
He guards all his bones;
Not one of them is broken
Psalms 22:14
I am poured out like water
Luke 24:34
34 *Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what
they do."
Isaiah 53:12
And made intercession for the transgressors
I'll stop here, but there is so much more, I just did this to show you
why this is important. There is soo much in the bible about Jesus, more
then what is shown in the Gospels. So many prophecies to let us know
that he truly is the Messiah. This is why Paul said that I came to you
knowing nothing else but Christ crucified, because once you can
understand Christ crucified then it will make you appreciate being a
Christian that much more. God loves us so much that he told us that
Jesus was going to come, and be a Savior not only for the Jews but also
for the Gentiles, he told us that Jesus was going to suffer for us so
that we might be saved. Jesus knew what he had to do long before he was
Crucified, and yet he Loved us so much that he went through with it
anyways. Can you imagine being able to read in the bible about
yourself, and know everything that you're going to suffer for people
that won't appreciate it until you've suffered. That's love, that's
AGAPE We need to start being more obedient, to show Jesus that it
wasn't in Vain. That we truly appreciate what he did for us. It was no
small thing.
In Christianity: Forgiveness
Mathew 18:34-35
34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he
should pay all that was due to him. 35 So My heavenly Father also will
do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother
his trespasses.
We all know that forgiveness is important. In the above scripture Jesus
talks about what will happen to us if we don't forgive our brother from
our heart of their trespasses. But an important thing to remember is we
will not be forgiven also if we can't forgive ourselves of our own
trespasses. Being a Christian we believe that Jesus Christ was
crucified on the cross and died as a sacrificial lamb to take away all
of our sins. By that selfless act all of our sins were forgiven. So
why do we not forgive ourselves when we stumble? Why do we call
ourselves a failure, or an idiot. Why do we walk around ashamed of
ourselves when we slip. There are something's that we have going on in
our life that we are trying to be delivered from. And just when we feel
we've been delivered from it we will slip up and do the very burden that
we feel has been taken off of us. And what do we do when that happens,
we curse ourselves. We condemn ourselves and sometimes we turn our
backs on God because of it. We'll turn our backs on our brothers and
sisters in Christ because of the shame that we feel. How can we forgive
others if we can't forgive ourselves. How can we love others if we
don't love ourselves, how can we love God if we can't love ourselves?
We are told to always speak nice about others, and not gossip, we're
taught that if we don't have anything nice to say then don't say
anything at all, but do we practice that when it comes to us? Jesus
says: Mathew 12:35 "36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may
speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment. 37 For by
your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be
condemned". So if by our words we will be justified or condemned, why do
we speak negative things to life? If you call yourself a failure then
you're a failure and you won't be delivered, but if you say I will be
delivered from this and give it to God then you will be delivered. We
expect it in our own time, instead of in God's time. God knows that he
wants you to be delivered from your afflictions. God doesn't want us to
keep sinning, but God also knows that we are human. God knows that we
rely on him. God wants us to know that we rely on him. When God
delivers you from something he doesn't ever want you going back to it.
So when you keep on going to God eventually he'll make you so turned off
by the very thing that makes you stumble that you won't even think about
doing it again. Some things are detrimental to us so he'll deliver us
from it right away. Others we have to struggle with for awhile, but the
whole time we're struggling we're supposed to be going to God. Paul
talks about this in his letter to the Corinthians in it he says: 2
Corinthians 12:7-10 "7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the
abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a
messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8
Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might
depart from me. 9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you,
for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I
will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest
upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am
weak, then I am strong". Paul said that he will boast in his
infirmities. He boasted and praised God in everything that we will cry
about and beat ourselves up over. We need to stop doing this. We need
to praise God no matter what.
Christians aren't supposed to have Low self esteem, Christians aren't
supposed to have a bad attitude at all, whether it's because of
something that somebody did against us, or what we did against
ourselves. We can't sin, and then because of the sin, sin. That
doesn't make since. When you sin you're sinning against God, whether
you sin against a brother, or you sin against yourself, Paul also says
that: 1 Corinthians 3:16 "16 Do you not know that you are the temple of
God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" So if you are the temple
of God and you stumble, ask for forgiveness and move on don't talk down
about yourself, because when will it go from us beating ourselves up, to
us putting God down. People know that we belong to God by our actions:
Mathew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your
good works and glorify your Father in heaven". So we need to start doing
what we're called to do without any negative thoughts, whether directed
towards God or other people or ourselves. If you stumble praise God,
because you know that eventually that'll be something that'll be taken
from you, at least you know what you stumble over: Proverbs 4:19 "The
way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them
stumble+. If you're happy praise God, if your sad Praise God, no matter
what Praise God, because in your Praise is redemption, in your Praise is
Love, in your Praise is God
In Christianity: Focus
What is the focus of our lives? Why do we focus on the unimportant aspects of life rather than the important? Why do we focus on the appearance of things rather than what they really are? For example if I look at a good looking woman, I'm attracted to what she appears to be on the outside, how her body looks, the way she dresses, her smile, but I won't look at who she is and what she stands for. I won't look at the pain she has inside of if her smile is a mask that she puts on.
In Genesis 2:11 when God told Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he probably did that because He knew that man couldn't handle that kind of knowledge. He knew that once man's eyes were opened to the "evil" things in life he would lose focus of the good or would blur the lines. You could tell by what happened after Adam and Even ate the fruit. Genesis 3:7-12 gives an account to the immediate reaction that they had from eating; all of a sudden they felt embarrassed because they were naked, shame when they heard God to make them hide, when confronted with their own disobedience they passed the blame on to somebody else. We see in Genesis 4:8 that Cain was the first person to commit murder due to envy of his brother. All this happened as a direct result of the knowledge of good and evil, this opened the door to our selfish and sinful nature. We can't help the way we are because we are corrupt from birth.
God told Cain in Genesis 4:7 that he can rule over sin before Can killed his brother, but Cain just like us nowadays, was too lazy to do that. Instead he acted on his emotions and killed his brother. Then when he was punished in verses 11-12 he told God that the punishment was too great, not thinking about his brother that he just killed. This is how we are, we'll persecute those that do good for their righteous acts but be hurt or angered when we suffer rebuke or discipline for our disobedience. We blame God, call Him unfair or curse Him because of the situation that we put ourselves in. I like how God addresses this in Ezekiel 18:25-26 "yet you say, the way of the lord is not fair. Hear now 'o' house of Israel, is it not my way which is fair, and your ways which are not. When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies". But we are too stubborn or ignorant to realize this. We blame our downfall on everybody but ourselves, but our good we always accredit to our own righteousness.
I like when Solomon said that "every way of a man is right in his own eyes" Proverbs 21:2. In our own eyes we are justified for everything we do. That's why we have to live by Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths". If we trust in God and acknowledge Him, He'll direct us to His word or somebody with an unbiased view of our life that we can seek wisdom from. But what we do is look through the dusty grease smeared window of our lives and focus on what we see as something positive or something that with make our lives prosperous and meaningful when in all actuality what we're really looking at is garbage, and if we would've sought outside help they could've told us what were looking at.
If you look at what happened to Adam and Eve you'll see that they didn't trust in God, they didn't let Him direct their paths. Instead they were deceived, and after they were deceived Eve trusted in her own understanding, Genesis 3:6 "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise she took of it's fruit and ate, and gave to her husband with her, and he ate". This goes back to what was said at the beginning of this post, we focus on the wrong things. She looked at the appearance of the tree and how it can temporarily satisfy her selfish desires. Instead of looking at the reality of the tree and what it would eventually do to her. She didn't focus on the warning of the affect the fruit would have on her life. All she focused on was the appearance of tree and it's fruit.
Do you see what I'm getting at? Do you see how this applies to life now? People drink alcohol knowing they can die from alcohol poisoning or liver disease just to get drunk, people smoke knowing the risks, people sleep around with multiple partners unprotected, people do drugs...etc. We do all these things and more knowing the risks, whether death or sickness, or jail time, or loss of families or jobs. We go to extremes to to get a high or a feeling of relief or a false sense of security. But we never look at what it can do to us, or how unimportant it really is. Do these things that you focus on have a positive impact on your life, or the lives of others, is there anything in your life that has control of you? Paul says in 1 Cor 6:12 "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any" and again in 1 Cor 10:23-24 "All things are lawful for me but not all things are helpful, all things are lawful for me but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own but each one the others well being."
Are you subjected to your desires or cravings, or addictions? Do they hurt or help others? Where Paul says "let no one seek his own but each one the others well being" he's showing us what we as christians should strive for, but we don't do this all the time, some never at all, instead we do like Eve, after we partake of that which will lead to our demise we share it with others. Also we knowing that something can hurt oror kill or imprison us will partake of it because it was given to us, because we're too scared or dumb to say anything. This is an ongoing cycle, and we are all held accountable for our part in disobedience. As we see in Genesis 3:14-19. We need to look at the truth in every situation instead of what it appears to be. We need to focus on all areas of our life, and stay away from that which can destroy us and our family or more importantly the body of Christ, no matter how uncomfortable the temporary decision feels. We need to do what's right so that others will see and learn from our examples of righteousness, instead of taking part in our destruction. We need to let God guide us and direct our paths, instead of leaning on our won understanding. Please focus on your life and the things you're allowing to control you, examine yourself and seek deliverance.
I'll leave you with a closing thought and a scripture to "Focus" on. In the beginning God set in the Garden a tree of life whose fruites would lead to eternal life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil whose fruit led to death. Now we are given the opportunity to receive knowledge that leads to life through His word. We just have to be obedient to it. Deuteronomy 30:19 "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.
In Genesis 2:11 when God told Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he probably did that because He knew that man couldn't handle that kind of knowledge. He knew that once man's eyes were opened to the "evil" things in life he would lose focus of the good or would blur the lines. You could tell by what happened after Adam and Even ate the fruit. Genesis 3:7-12 gives an account to the immediate reaction that they had from eating; all of a sudden they felt embarrassed because they were naked, shame when they heard God to make them hide, when confronted with their own disobedience they passed the blame on to somebody else. We see in Genesis 4:8 that Cain was the first person to commit murder due to envy of his brother. All this happened as a direct result of the knowledge of good and evil, this opened the door to our selfish and sinful nature. We can't help the way we are because we are corrupt from birth.
God told Cain in Genesis 4:7 that he can rule over sin before Can killed his brother, but Cain just like us nowadays, was too lazy to do that. Instead he acted on his emotions and killed his brother. Then when he was punished in verses 11-12 he told God that the punishment was too great, not thinking about his brother that he just killed. This is how we are, we'll persecute those that do good for their righteous acts but be hurt or angered when we suffer rebuke or discipline for our disobedience. We blame God, call Him unfair or curse Him because of the situation that we put ourselves in. I like how God addresses this in Ezekiel 18:25-26 "yet you say, the way of the lord is not fair. Hear now 'o' house of Israel, is it not my way which is fair, and your ways which are not. When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies". But we are too stubborn or ignorant to realize this. We blame our downfall on everybody but ourselves, but our good we always accredit to our own righteousness.
I like when Solomon said that "every way of a man is right in his own eyes" Proverbs 21:2. In our own eyes we are justified for everything we do. That's why we have to live by Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths". If we trust in God and acknowledge Him, He'll direct us to His word or somebody with an unbiased view of our life that we can seek wisdom from. But what we do is look through the dusty grease smeared window of our lives and focus on what we see as something positive or something that with make our lives prosperous and meaningful when in all actuality what we're really looking at is garbage, and if we would've sought outside help they could've told us what were looking at.
If you look at what happened to Adam and Eve you'll see that they didn't trust in God, they didn't let Him direct their paths. Instead they were deceived, and after they were deceived Eve trusted in her own understanding, Genesis 3:6 "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise she took of it's fruit and ate, and gave to her husband with her, and he ate". This goes back to what was said at the beginning of this post, we focus on the wrong things. She looked at the appearance of the tree and how it can temporarily satisfy her selfish desires. Instead of looking at the reality of the tree and what it would eventually do to her. She didn't focus on the warning of the affect the fruit would have on her life. All she focused on was the appearance of tree and it's fruit.
Do you see what I'm getting at? Do you see how this applies to life now? People drink alcohol knowing they can die from alcohol poisoning or liver disease just to get drunk, people smoke knowing the risks, people sleep around with multiple partners unprotected, people do drugs...etc. We do all these things and more knowing the risks, whether death or sickness, or jail time, or loss of families or jobs. We go to extremes to to get a high or a feeling of relief or a false sense of security. But we never look at what it can do to us, or how unimportant it really is. Do these things that you focus on have a positive impact on your life, or the lives of others, is there anything in your life that has control of you? Paul says in 1 Cor 6:12 "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any" and again in 1 Cor 10:23-24 "All things are lawful for me but not all things are helpful, all things are lawful for me but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own but each one the others well being."
Are you subjected to your desires or cravings, or addictions? Do they hurt or help others? Where Paul says "let no one seek his own but each one the others well being" he's showing us what we as christians should strive for, but we don't do this all the time, some never at all, instead we do like Eve, after we partake of that which will lead to our demise we share it with others. Also we knowing that something can hurt oror kill or imprison us will partake of it because it was given to us, because we're too scared or dumb to say anything. This is an ongoing cycle, and we are all held accountable for our part in disobedience. As we see in Genesis 3:14-19. We need to look at the truth in every situation instead of what it appears to be. We need to focus on all areas of our life, and stay away from that which can destroy us and our family or more importantly the body of Christ, no matter how uncomfortable the temporary decision feels. We need to do what's right so that others will see and learn from our examples of righteousness, instead of taking part in our destruction. We need to let God guide us and direct our paths, instead of leaning on our won understanding. Please focus on your life and the things you're allowing to control you, examine yourself and seek deliverance.
I'll leave you with a closing thought and a scripture to "Focus" on. In the beginning God set in the Garden a tree of life whose fruites would lead to eternal life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil whose fruit led to death. Now we are given the opportunity to receive knowledge that leads to life through His word. We just have to be obedient to it. Deuteronomy 30:19 "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
In Christianity: What I will to do
The Apostle Paul said it best when he said For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. (Rom. 7:15) It can get so hard sometimes trying to do what's right when we constantly struggle with wrong. Now everybody has their own form of wrong doing. It doesn't even matter what your religion is you do something that you would rather be freed of. Everybody, no matter who they are, can improve in some areas of their life, there are just some who's areas that need to be improved on is more visible to outside observers.
The thing is though, no matter what it is that we're struggling with, we're not the only one with that issue. The bible says that "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man" (1 Cor. 10:13). We have things that we struggle with, except our struggles are common struggles. The only reason why we feel like we're the only one going through what we go through is because people never really fully admit what it is they're going through. Nobody likes to expose themselves unless they're comfortable in their mess. But the good thing about our struggles is the second part of 1 Cor 10:13 that says "but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."
We may go through things sometimes but it's not more then we can bare. The proof of that is we're still here. Sometimes people do continuously put themselves in situations that for some reason or another will feel like life is hopeless and so they take their own life. But life is filled with ups and downs. It's what makes us who we are. We grow through adversity. Sometimes that adversity is self inflicted. But as long as we don't give up then we will be able to move forward stronger than we were before going through. It's like lifting weights. When you life weights you're adding resistence to your body with the intended purpose of ripping your muscles. But when your muscles heal from your workout session they'll be stronger than they were before. The various trials and tribulations that we go through are meant to strengthen us. But we get so distraught when we're going through something or when we are victims of our own carnal desires. But say for example you're addicted to drugs, when you are healed or delivered from your addiction then you stand as a testimony to somebody that is going through what you went through. You can be their support. But what do we do, we'll be delivered from something and then say that we're not worthy of mentoring somebody because of what we went through or we'll allow our past indiscretions to disqualify us from operating in the church or in a role that would make us somebody with authority. But those are the types of people that are the best at being a leader in any aspect because they've been through hard times and got through them.
My whole point in this is don't be discouraged if you're going through something that may be a bit disheartening and don't allow your sins to cause you to condemn yourself. Do what you can to move past your indescretions and allow your eventual deliverance be a testimony to somebody else that is going through the same thing.
One last note, it doesn't matter if what you've done has gotten you in jail for life, if you've learned from your mistakes then you can be the voice of reason for somebody on the inside or somebody that might be headed in your direction. No matter our situation, no matter where our sins have gotten us in life, we can still be a testimony to others. Some sins do have far greater consequences than others, but that doesn't mean somebody isn't out there that can't learn from your mistakes.
The thing is though, no matter what it is that we're struggling with, we're not the only one with that issue. The bible says that "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man" (1 Cor. 10:13). We have things that we struggle with, except our struggles are common struggles. The only reason why we feel like we're the only one going through what we go through is because people never really fully admit what it is they're going through. Nobody likes to expose themselves unless they're comfortable in their mess. But the good thing about our struggles is the second part of 1 Cor 10:13 that says "but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."
We may go through things sometimes but it's not more then we can bare. The proof of that is we're still here. Sometimes people do continuously put themselves in situations that for some reason or another will feel like life is hopeless and so they take their own life. But life is filled with ups and downs. It's what makes us who we are. We grow through adversity. Sometimes that adversity is self inflicted. But as long as we don't give up then we will be able to move forward stronger than we were before going through. It's like lifting weights. When you life weights you're adding resistence to your body with the intended purpose of ripping your muscles. But when your muscles heal from your workout session they'll be stronger than they were before. The various trials and tribulations that we go through are meant to strengthen us. But we get so distraught when we're going through something or when we are victims of our own carnal desires. But say for example you're addicted to drugs, when you are healed or delivered from your addiction then you stand as a testimony to somebody that is going through what you went through. You can be their support. But what do we do, we'll be delivered from something and then say that we're not worthy of mentoring somebody because of what we went through or we'll allow our past indiscretions to disqualify us from operating in the church or in a role that would make us somebody with authority. But those are the types of people that are the best at being a leader in any aspect because they've been through hard times and got through them.
My whole point in this is don't be discouraged if you're going through something that may be a bit disheartening and don't allow your sins to cause you to condemn yourself. Do what you can to move past your indescretions and allow your eventual deliverance be a testimony to somebody else that is going through the same thing.
One last note, it doesn't matter if what you've done has gotten you in jail for life, if you've learned from your mistakes then you can be the voice of reason for somebody on the inside or somebody that might be headed in your direction. No matter our situation, no matter where our sins have gotten us in life, we can still be a testimony to others. Some sins do have far greater consequences than others, but that doesn't mean somebody isn't out there that can't learn from your mistakes.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Feelings
I've talked about feelings in previous posts and a little bit in my book. This is my pet peeve, people that are led by their feelings. We all do it from time to time, but some people do it a little more than they should. Feelings have no place on the job or in any environment where people come together to achieve a common goal. By feelings I'm talking about negative feelings. I'm not talking about compassion, or love, or anything of that nature, I'm talking about hate, envy, anger, depression...etc. Feelings that can disrupt forward progress. We as leaders cannot let feelings dictate the way we operate. Not only can this lead to an ethical dilemma but it can severly hinder the momentum of the mission at hand.
Too many times I've seen forward progress halted because of the way somebody was feeling. I've had to pull subordinates aside and let them know the world doesn't stop because they're angry or sad. Life goes on regardless of how we feel. This is why we cannot let how we feel enter into the work place. When you do it will change the way people feel about you and even worse about your organisation. It's bad enough when people within your organisation knows that you're unstable but when people outside your organization sees it they might not see you but who you work for. Then that will inadvertantly change the overall view that people have about your organisation. This is why it's also imperative that as leaders we don't let those working for us and our peers operate like this. We must nip this in the bud. We can't baby people or let people bring their personal issues to work. If we do we'll allow a precedent that will be hard to break.
If people know that you're not led by your feelings and they know that you don't except it in the work place it will slow down this way of thinking and acting. People act the way they're allowed to act. If somebody knows that all it takes to get attention or get sent home early is to have a breakdown and start crying then they'll do it. But if people know that this type of behavior will not be tolerated then they will think twice before falling victim to their emotions. Because at the end of the day it's either allow our emotions to drive us or accomplish what needs to be done.
Too many times I've seen forward progress halted because of the way somebody was feeling. I've had to pull subordinates aside and let them know the world doesn't stop because they're angry or sad. Life goes on regardless of how we feel. This is why we cannot let how we feel enter into the work place. When you do it will change the way people feel about you and even worse about your organisation. It's bad enough when people within your organisation knows that you're unstable but when people outside your organization sees it they might not see you but who you work for. Then that will inadvertantly change the overall view that people have about your organisation. This is why it's also imperative that as leaders we don't let those working for us and our peers operate like this. We must nip this in the bud. We can't baby people or let people bring their personal issues to work. If we do we'll allow a precedent that will be hard to break.
If people know that you're not led by your feelings and they know that you don't except it in the work place it will slow down this way of thinking and acting. People act the way they're allowed to act. If somebody knows that all it takes to get attention or get sent home early is to have a breakdown and start crying then they'll do it. But if people know that this type of behavior will not be tolerated then they will think twice before falling victim to their emotions. Because at the end of the day it's either allow our emotions to drive us or accomplish what needs to be done.
In Leadership: Be Consistent
One of the most important things for not only a leader but a decent human being to be is consistent. People need to know that they don't have to walk on eggshells around you just in case you're having a bad day. Consistent doesn't necessarily mean that you're a kind hearted person that always has something nice to say to everybody you see. Consistent can also mean you're a distant person that's always about business and wants things done by the book. Somebody that might fire somebody for coming in 5 minutes late. Consistency is people can trust you to be who you are no matter what.
I prefer to work with consistent people instead of erratic people. The main reason is I have to know where I stand with you. I personally need to know if I can trust you to uphold the standards to the degree that you're going to hold me accountable, or you're going to be scamming every chance you get so I know not to trust you when it comes to work or anything else for that matter.
I remember I once worked in an office that never held people accountable for anything, or so I thought. People came and went as they pleased, you could come in 1-2 hours late without an excuse if you wanted to. You could take 2 and 3 hour lunches and you could leave an hour early just about daily, and nobody would ever say anything to you about it. During my time in this office we were tasked to have everybody take a test, and we were the office conducting the test. I don't remember knowing the deadline, but while the testing phase was going on I had taken a week off so I could go visit my daughter. When I came back I found out that I had missed my deadline and all of my certifications were lost. I was pretty upset since this was the office that decided to take people's certifications, and nobody outside the office would know one way or the other, and it was an open book test. But this was the thing they wanted to hold me accountable for and they made an example of me. All for a test that like I said was open book and only about 20 questions.
I understand that in the above example it would have been unethical for me to expect my office to show me any favoritism in how to discipline me for missing the deadline. I should have been treated exactly how anybody else would've been treated had they missed the deadline for taking the test also. The thing that upset me the most was I don't remember seeing anybody ever get in trouble for anything in this office, there was a real informal atmosphere where people just came and went as it pleased them, and then this happened. Now if this office was known for it's strict adherence to the standards then that would've been my mindset and I would've acted more carefully with missed deadlines.
This was my example because it also shows how not to be as a leader. When leading people we must always have established standards in place and stick to them no matter what. If we are inconsistent as leaders then when it comes time to discipline people they might not even know why it's happening or resent you for making it happen. Being a leader is hard enough with having to deal with the different personalities and attitudes that people bring with them to work on a daily basis but, inconsistency in our own personalities will make it more difficult for us to be taken seriously as a leader.
Another reason being consistent is imperative as a leader is if you are consistently you, then eventually the bad parts of your personality will come out, and when they do people will notice them and eventually say something to you about it and you can work on it. If you're inconsistent you might not ever show your bad side and you won't be corrected on it. I used to have a really bad habit of using unprofessional language all the time. To the point that I didn't even know what was coming out of my mouth. Until people started telling me about it. All the time it'd be, Patrick you need to watch your mouth, this is a professional setting we're not supposed to use that kind of language. Even when I got married my wife used to get on me about it. After awhile I really started to feel bad because I just couldn't help it. Then one day people noticed I wasn't cussing anymore. They were as shocked as I was. Now I don't use that kind of language.
I try to be me no matter where I'm at, whether it's church, work or home. This way if there's something that needs to be worked on I'll be told about it at church, work and home and I'll work on it at church, work and home. Being consistent isn't just being the same only at work or church, but being consistent in all aspects of your life to everybody you know. I know this can be hard, but if you want to gain respect as a leader it's a must.
I prefer to work with consistent people instead of erratic people. The main reason is I have to know where I stand with you. I personally need to know if I can trust you to uphold the standards to the degree that you're going to hold me accountable, or you're going to be scamming every chance you get so I know not to trust you when it comes to work or anything else for that matter.
I remember I once worked in an office that never held people accountable for anything, or so I thought. People came and went as they pleased, you could come in 1-2 hours late without an excuse if you wanted to. You could take 2 and 3 hour lunches and you could leave an hour early just about daily, and nobody would ever say anything to you about it. During my time in this office we were tasked to have everybody take a test, and we were the office conducting the test. I don't remember knowing the deadline, but while the testing phase was going on I had taken a week off so I could go visit my daughter. When I came back I found out that I had missed my deadline and all of my certifications were lost. I was pretty upset since this was the office that decided to take people's certifications, and nobody outside the office would know one way or the other, and it was an open book test. But this was the thing they wanted to hold me accountable for and they made an example of me. All for a test that like I said was open book and only about 20 questions.
I understand that in the above example it would have been unethical for me to expect my office to show me any favoritism in how to discipline me for missing the deadline. I should have been treated exactly how anybody else would've been treated had they missed the deadline for taking the test also. The thing that upset me the most was I don't remember seeing anybody ever get in trouble for anything in this office, there was a real informal atmosphere where people just came and went as it pleased them, and then this happened. Now if this office was known for it's strict adherence to the standards then that would've been my mindset and I would've acted more carefully with missed deadlines.
This was my example because it also shows how not to be as a leader. When leading people we must always have established standards in place and stick to them no matter what. If we are inconsistent as leaders then when it comes time to discipline people they might not even know why it's happening or resent you for making it happen. Being a leader is hard enough with having to deal with the different personalities and attitudes that people bring with them to work on a daily basis but, inconsistency in our own personalities will make it more difficult for us to be taken seriously as a leader.
Another reason being consistent is imperative as a leader is if you are consistently you, then eventually the bad parts of your personality will come out, and when they do people will notice them and eventually say something to you about it and you can work on it. If you're inconsistent you might not ever show your bad side and you won't be corrected on it. I used to have a really bad habit of using unprofessional language all the time. To the point that I didn't even know what was coming out of my mouth. Until people started telling me about it. All the time it'd be, Patrick you need to watch your mouth, this is a professional setting we're not supposed to use that kind of language. Even when I got married my wife used to get on me about it. After awhile I really started to feel bad because I just couldn't help it. Then one day people noticed I wasn't cussing anymore. They were as shocked as I was. Now I don't use that kind of language.
I try to be me no matter where I'm at, whether it's church, work or home. This way if there's something that needs to be worked on I'll be told about it at church, work and home and I'll work on it at church, work and home. Being consistent isn't just being the same only at work or church, but being consistent in all aspects of your life to everybody you know. I know this can be hard, but if you want to gain respect as a leader it's a must.
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