What have you done for them lately?
One of the seminar sessions I often present is called “The Care and Feeding of Your Staff.” The idea is not to present the great people who are part of your team as pets or animals. The thought is that those in leadership should have the best interest at heart for the ones the Lord has given them for ministry. You as a leader should care for them, encourage them, and support them.
I recently saw some statistics for U.S workers. It’s pretty revealing information about corporate America and may have insight from which we can learn in our areas of leadership.
- 79% of employees will quit their jobs due to a lack of appreciation from leaders.
- 83% of employers agree that it’s crucial to develop their employees’ skills, but only 5% of corporations actually implement these improvements.
- Only 14% of CEOs have the leadership talent they need to grow their businesses.
- 15% of candidates state they turned down job offers due to a negative work culture.
- 70% of employees in the U.S. are unhappy in their jobs due to negative management.
from 21+ Inspiring Leadership Statistics [2020 Edition]
Not a pretty picture. I wonder what the statistics would look like for Christian ministries and organizations? Would it be much different?
God’s Word is clear about giving appropriate compensation for those who work:
For the Scripture says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” And in another place, “Those who work deserve their pay!”
1 Timothy 5:18 NLT
Eugene Peterson has a unique take on this verse. In The Message he looks to verse 17 and starts out with this:
“Give a bonus to leaders who do a good job, especially the ones who work hard at preaching and teaching.”
Dr. Gary Chapman, who spoke at one of our MEDIAlliance Summits, has written a whole book on how to show appreciation to our employees...and it should apply to volunteers who serve in our ministries and organizations, too. Chapman bases the book on his classic “Five Love Languages,” applying them to the environment and relationships in the workplace. The premise is the same. Not everyone has the same “love” language or the same “appreciation” language. But when we can communicate our appreciation in the right language it will have a dramatic effect on those who serves with us. The author says by doing so you should expect great results. The principles taught in The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace will help you lead your team and help you show your genuine care for those entrusted to you by the Lord. One blogger gave this insight about the book:
“Our motivation is maximized when we receive our ideal form of praise, encouragement, or reward for our efforts. Since it is the job of a manager, leader, or boss to not only keep the company or department running but also to keep up a happy workforce; understanding what makes individuals tick is crucial for helping the bottom line.”
- 15five blog
A good exercise might be to take 30 minutes at the beginning of this week and write down ways you can show real appreciation to your team, both as a group and individually. Challenging? Yes. But worth the time spent in caring for and serving your team.
Prayer. Is it on your to-do list?
When do you pray? How often do you pray? And what kinds of things do you pray about? I’m not trying to probe into your life…but just wanted to get you thinking about the role prayer plays in your daily routine.
At our breakfast table, Judy and I read from a devotional book. In the evening, we read through books of the Bible. A while back a Billy Graham thought on prayer impacted me. He talked about the privilege of prayer, and then began to list the times we are to pray.
- We are to pray in times of adversity, lest we become faithless and unbelieving.
- We are to pray in times of prosperity, lest we become boastful and proud.
- We are to pray in times of danger, lest we become fearful and doubting.
- We are to pray in times of security, lest we become self-sufficient.
Wow. It sounds like prayer ought to be our daily priority. I can tell you that over these past months as my wife has struggled with multiple surgeries, I have prayed. I have prayed in petition to God. I have prayed thanking God. I have prayed for the Lord’s guidance for surgeons. I have later prayed with the surgeons and let them know people around the world were praying. And Judy and I have felt the prayers of our many friends. Prayer is not theoretical...it is our lifeline to the Father.
Oswald Chambers once said, “The only way to get into the relationship of ‘asking’ is to get into the relationship of absolute reliance on the Lord Jesus.” Have you been there? Have you agonized in prayer...and rejoiced in prayer? Chambers also said, “Prayer does not prepare you for the greater work; it is the greater work.”
And we are confident that he hears us
whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.1 John 5:14 NLT
We need to pray more, not less…according to His will, with confidence in the One who hears and answers our prayers. Let prayer be your greatest work today.
How Far Can You See?
I was looking at computers and printers the other day and noticed the tag phrase for the Epson brand.
Exceed Your Vision
That started me down a thought path. Exceed your vision. See farther than you can see. What does that mean? I thought of the “flat earth” people who only see to the horizon and deduce the earth is flat. (My international air travel tells me differently.)
What does it take to exceed your vision? First, it takes faith. You have to believe there is something “out there” that you can’t see...yet. Something that will carry you farther along life’s path. From a biblical standpoint, it means trusting in a God who is already out there, seeing the beginning from the end. As the Lord revealed to Isaiah,
"Only I can tell you the future before it even happens..."
Isaiah 46:10a NLT
In practical terms, what does that phrase mean today for you and for those you lead in ministry? It should be a revolutionary thought that removes the man-made boundaries to what God is calling you to do and to be.
Exceed your vision...
We are sometimes asked, “If money were no object, what would you do?” Well, first, it is rare...especially in ministry...when money is no object. But the idea is to do what the Epson brand proclaims. Exceed your vision.
I know a church that invested heavily in media facilities and infrastructure several years before the pandemic forced everyone online. When the church doors were shut, the media door swung widely open. Recently, the pastor revealed that on the previous Sunday over 700 thousand watched the Sunday live streams of the worship services. By God’s direction, they exceeded their own vision.
Is there something beyond your vision right now? Is the Lord leading you to take steps in ministry or in life that don’t make sense if we are only seeing through today’s eyes? Abram in the Old Testament experienced this. God said “go,” not saying where. And Abram went, taking his whole family to a foreign land. He trusted that the Lord who spoke to him had something in the future that exceeded Abram’s vision in that day.
Author and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek says, “Great leaders must have two things: a vision of the world that does not yet exist and the ability to communicate that vision clearly.”
We live in a communication age. We as leaders...no matter who we lead...need to be able to bring others along toward that vision, even when they cannot see it clearly. And as Christian leaders, we have the added responsibility to move others to God’s agenda, the ultimate vision for all of us.
Drs. Henry and Richard Blackaby wrote a book on spiritual leadership. In it they talk about how important it is for a leader to know where the Lord is leading.
It’s surprising how many leaders settle for managing the day-to-day operations of their organization with no comprehensible idea of where God is leading them. Every decision is a step toward a destination.
Spiritual Leadership, Henry and Richard Blackaby
So, what is the destination the Lord has before you? What lies over the horizon for your ministry...for you...for your family? Are you willing to obey God’s direction toward something you cannot see yet? Are you willing to be obedient to His call in your life as a leader?
Exceed your vision...and move others toward what the Spirit of the Lord is leading you in ministry.
God’s best...
Say YES to NO!
There are seasons in life and in ministry. Sometimes you feel you are slogging through the mud. Other times, all is working smoothly, ministry is moving, and people are blessed. I remember years like that over my many decades of media ministry. Good things were happening. Others were excited about what they saw. Requests would come in to do this, speak there, meet with these folks, lead this workshop, serve on this committee...and on and on. Most of the time...I said YES. It was as if the word “no” wasn’t in my vocabulary.
To be honest, I haven’t progressed too far down the road, but I have learned there is nothing wrong with saying no to something that is not a priority. It isn’t easy. And it is even harder to do without guilt when it is a good friend or colleague who is asking.
Recently, my friend Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth helped me better understand the whole concept of saying no in a devotional from her book, The Quiet Place. Your own to-do list is usually augmented by the to-do list others have for you...especially if you are in leadership.
“There will seldom be enough time in a twenty-four-hour day for you to do everything that is on your to-do list. For sure, there will never be enough time for everything that is on everyone else’s list for your life! You can’t spend time with every person who wants to talk, read all the books you’d like, and tackle every project you’re interested in....”
So, what is the secret? How do you prioritize things that all seem like a priority? The answer is found in the life of Jesus. He didn’t do everything others wanted Him to do. He didn’t heal everyone, feed everyone, calm every storm, or raise every dead person to life. So... what was His guiding principle? Jesus did what His Father had for Him to do. He had God’s to-do list...His priority. In Jesus’ priestly prayer to His Heavenly Father found in John 17, the Lord said,
“I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.”
John 17:4 NLT
Did you see that? Jesus said He did what His Father gave Him to do. Great insight for us today.
There will be many demands on you, your time, your talent, your knowledge, your energy. Which among them is God’s will for you? Which ones are obviously part of the Lord’s plan for you? More importantly, which ones...though good things to do...are NOT in His will for you? Setting the parameters and priorities according to the Lord’s plan will make saying no a bit easier. As Nancy Wolgemuth says, “All you have to do is the work God assigns to you. And believe it or not, there is always time (and grace) to do everything that is on His to-do list for you.”
I still struggle with saying no, but I continue to work on it. Why don’t you join me in seeking God’s priority and focusing on that first and foremost? Yes...I think I still need to work on that these days in my own life and ministry.
Who are you?
Do you ever get that question? If I asked you to take out a piece of paper and write down in bullet-point form the things that identify you, what would you write? What would be at the top?
Several years ago, I was in a high-level meeting between a pastor of a large church and the head of a major Christian university. After a few minutes of visiting, the head of the university looked at the pastor and said, “Now, who are you?” Kind of awkward. In his defense, the university president had just come back from vacation and didn’t have time to get briefed on who his visitors were.
What would you have said? Most of us would have given our credentials as to our leadership role in a key church in a major city. But would that have been the most important way to identify ourselves?
A recent devotional from Lead Like Jesus reminds us of the right perspective we should have as leaders.
“It can be easy to forget, especially if we hold formal leadership positions, that being a leader is not our identity or calling. We are first children of God, called to follow Jesus.”
John Maxwell says, "Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another."
It is interesting to read the Facebook profiles of people and see how they describe themselves. Many, rightly, begin with their relationship with Christ, then go on to list other ways they can be identified. But not everyone does that.
Our identity is important. We need to get it right. Jesus entered into the conversation of some of his disciples as they discussed what others were saying about who Jesus was. Jesus looked at them...Peter in particular...and asked, “But who do you say I am?” (italics added)
If our identity is bound up in what we do, then we open ourselves up to failure, and, often, a spiritual spiral downward. There will be times when we fail, when our team fails, when we and our good intentions are misunderstood. We need to hide our identity in God’s grace, not in our own achievements.
In his book Transforming Grace, Jerry Bridges gives great insight on this key area for leaders.
“Living by grace instead of by works means you are free from the performance treadmill. It means God has already given you an “A” when you deserved an “F.” He has already given you a full day’s pay even though you may have worked for only one hour. It means you don’t have to perform certain spiritual disciplines to earn God’s approval. Jesus Christ has already done that for you. You are loved and accepted by God through the merit of Jesus, and you are blessed by God through the merit of Jesus. Nothing you ever do will cause Him to love you any more or any less. He loves you strictly by His grace given to you through Jesus.”
Let me ask you, what is the overarching identifying trait of your life? Who do your friends say you are? What does your family say when asked about you? What would Jesus say?
The Apostle Paul was well aware of his position. Christ was primary. He was secondary, at best. Eugene Peterson’s The Message puts it this way:
I identified myself completely with him (Christ). Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
So, who are you?
Don't Waste the Crisis
A few years back a fundraising organization was taken to task for advising ministries to take advantage of a specific crisis to gain financial support for the ministry. The message came across as “use someone’s crisis to your financial advantage.” That’s is NOT what I am suggesting today.
However, sometimes we do waste a crisis by not understanding what God is up to. The Lord has always had a plan for accomplishing His will and His purpose. Nothing happens by chance. Not even a global pandemic. God was not caught by surprise when Covid-19 began its initial surge of infections. He is not taken back by recent resurgences of the virus in many countries around the globe. God always has a plan. Our goal should be to discover how we can be part of His plan...how we can further the Lord’s cause...how we can see God’s will accomplished in those around us.
So, what about the crisis? I should make that plural. We are seeing crisis after crisis in our world, with the pandemic leading the way. Many of the countries where we have ministry partners are among the worst in the world when it comes to this resurgence of the Covid virus and its variations. India, Brazil, Romania, Turkey...to name just a few. And the United States is also near the top. Yet along with that are places dealing with floods, earthquakes, and other perils. We just returned a few weeks ago from Ukraine having dealt with extensive Covid protocols all along the way. But the big story in Ukraine is the 20,000 Russian troops massing on the eastern border, and the buildup of Ukrainian troops to try to provide a defense for their people. It has been only six years since Russia “annexed” the formerly Ukrainian area of Crimea. Crisis.
What is my point? There is one singular thing that stands out to me.
The need for hope.
When a close friend dies from Covid, we are rightly concerned with our own health and the health of friends and family. When the enemy across the border begins to rattle their sabers, we look for a sense of safety and wellbeing in that crisis. We need hope.
Those of us who know Christ as Lord and Sovereign over all recognize that our only hope in this sin-sick world is Jesus. What has come to me again and again is the need to see these times of uncertainty and peril as opportunities for the Gospel. The Apostle Paul was chained to Roman guards, yet still shared of his hope to all who would listen. We need to emulate that kind of spirit in our lives.
My wife has dealt with multiple medical challenges over the past eight months. Yet she embraces the spirit of Peter when he said,
“...you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.”
1 Peter 3:15 NLT
At a restaurant the other night, struggling with memory issues and a lack of full mobility, Judy was soon talking to the manager, learning of health issues with his mother, and promising to pray for her. Ready to share the hope.
Are you struggling these days? You can either turn inward and see your problems...or you can turn outward and see the opportunity to touch the lives around you with God’s promise of peace, His promise to never leave us, and His promise to save all who turn to Him in sincerity and humility.
You may be in a crisis. But it doesn’t have to be all about you. You can see the needs of others and share with them the only thing of lasting value today...the hope and salvation found in Jesus our Lord. You will be amazed how much smaller your crisis will become.
...If There Be Any Excellence...
Excellence is a difficult thing to define. Even the dictionary struggles. Webster’s tries to nail down the meaning of excellence this way: “...the quality of being excellent.” That doesn’t help a lot. Yet most of us know what excellence is when we see it.
I just returned from Ukraine where Kyle Gilbert and I were part of a media conference organized by our friends at Novomedia. One of the sessions I led was on the topic of excellence. A well-known American football coach, Vince Lombardi, expressed great wisdom with his thoughts on the topic.
“Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”
As leaders in ministries and Christian organizations, it often falls to us to push the team to do their best in order to achieve the most. I often think of the title of the book of devotionals by Oswald Chambers. My Utmost for His Highest. What a great phrase to capture what we should be about in our ministry, our work, our families, and our lives.
Here are four keys to excellence:
- Consistency – Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, said “Excellence is not an act, it’s a habit.” Strive consistently for excellence and soon you will be developing a habit of great accomplishments.
- Improvement – we need a heart to constantly get better. A successful college baseball coach asks his players to get one percent better every day. That’s a good start towards excellence.
- Creativity – Our Lord is a creative God, and we are made in His likeness. We have creativity within us. No doubt it is seen better in some than others, but we all have the ability to break new ground and find innovative ways to solve problems.
- Going the extra mile – Someone has said that responsible people do what is expected of them. Excellent people routinely do more than asked.
Ryan Denison of the Denison Forum recently wrote on excellence. “There is something about the pursuit of excellence that is easy for people to notice and appreciate, regardless of the context in which it occurs. Perhaps it is easier to recognize when it comes to music, athletics, or other more public displays, but the principle applies to our work, our relationships, and our personal pursuits as well.” He goes on to look at the life of Daniel in the Old Testament as an example. He lived a life of excellence that was quickly noted by Nebuchadnezzar.
The Apostle Paul reminded the believers in Colossae that our best efforts...our excellence...is in service to our Savior.
Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.
Colossians 3:23 NLT
Along with the obvious reason for pursuing excellence in our Christian life, there are other benefits. Again, the great football coach Vince Lombardi made a profound statement worth pondering and retaining in our minds.
“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”
God is honored when we serve Him with excellence. Other lives are impacted by the effort we exhibit toward excellence in ministry. And the quality of our own lives is enhanced by our commitment to excellence.
It sounds like we all gain from a life of excellence. And the Lord is honored. Oswald Chambers sums it up this way:
“Worship is giving God the best He has given to you. Be careful what you do with your best.”
Manager or Coach?
To be honest, I don’t always pay a lot of attention to titles. In sports, you have coaches and managers, and sometimes the titles get interchanged. Or they seem different depending on the sport. But as I look a bit deeper into the nuances of some of these titles and how they differ, I find there are some great applications for the ways we lead others.
Holly Green, writing in Forbes Magazine, outlined some of the differences.
Managing is all about telling, directing, authority, immediate needs, and a specific outcome.
Coaching involves exploring, facilitating, partnership, long-term improvement, and many possible outcomes.
She goes on to say, “In business, we have to be both coaches and managers. To lead effectively, we need to know when to wear which hat.”
In another online article on this topic, Cherissa Newton indicates that managers need to work at becoming good coaches. Most managers are focused on the outcome and are less engaged with the “team.” Newton says that when managers learn to become coaches, they can expect several things for the organization.
- Enhanced performance and improved productivity.
- A work environment where people are highly engaged.
- A culture of trust within the organization.
So, how to do this? Here are some ideas Newton suggests:
1. Motivate instead of command. Motivating others to take action is one of the primary goals of coaching. A coach learns how to balance providing direction with remaining inspiring and accessible to employees. Coaches show employees their potential by pointing out the value in their work and helping them develop self-confidence.
2. Make it desirable to do quality work. Let’s say, for instance, that there’s an employee who has a heavier workload than usual. This extra work makes him feel anxious and stressed. A manager might just tell him to make sure he gets it done somehow—but this is rarely effective and can even exacerbate the employee’s anxiety.
A better way to handle it would be to encourage him: tell him that he is capable, that you know he has the capacity to go above and beyond the minimum requirements of the job. Emphasize how much you’ve appreciated his work in the past. There might even be some kind of small reward, which could be simply public recognition for the good work.
3. Make it a pleasure to work for you. Remember that the culture and climate of a workplace are key components of employee motivation. The atmosphere should be fun, safe, and inspiring for employees because satisfied employees foster satisfied customers.
My friend Bob Tiede (leadingwithquestions.com) has a number of questions that a person can use in coaching those on their staff. I particularly liked these that help an employee evaluate their work and its impact.
- How could we/you have done this more effectively?
- Looking back now, what did you learn?
- What’s the biggest thing you would have done differently, with the benefit of hindsight?
- How have you learned the skills that you now have?
- How will you pass on these skills/these insights to other members of your team?
- How will you practice these skills in other areas of your life?
The joy of coaching comes when you see those on your team grow and develop into more productive and more satisfied people.
I think that much of what we read from the Apostle Paul comes from the heart of a coach. Certainly, what he wrote to young Timothy was in that realm. And Paul himself was willing to admit he didn’t know it all. (We sometimes leave that impression if we just direct others to do things for the task at hand.)
I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
Philippians 3:12-14 NLT
Think about it...would you rather be managed...or coached?
God’s best...
I don’t understand...
Let me be honest with you. I don’t understand. A lot.
In my Old Testament Bible readings, I see the way the children of Israel watch God do amazing, miraculous things...and then turn around and complain...or make idols to worship instead of the God who had delivered them and provided for them. I don’t understand.
I read Peter saying he would never deny Jesus...would even die first...then within hours he denies the Lord three times...just as Jesus predicted. I don’t understand.
In our modern world, I see good friends...healthy friends who have served their Lord Jesus for decades...contract the Covid virus and within days are dead, while others seem to slide through the virus with little or no symptoms. I don’t understand.
Judy and I have had our share of troubles over this past year. Her four hip replacement surgeries in eight weeks due to complications, mild cases (thankfully) of the Covid infection, the flooding of our home from burst water pipes after record-breaking cold temperatures.
I don’t understand.
But I guess I am in somewhat good company. David often questioned God as to why the enemy seemed to have the upper hand. Or why God didn’t seem to answer.
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief.
Psalm 22:1-2 NLT
David could have added... “I don’t understand.”
And the prophet Habakkuk also struggled to understand why things were happening in his culture, why the enemy seemed to be winning all the battles.
How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see these evil deeds?
Habakkuk 1: 2-3 NLT
Habakkuk goes on and on with his complaint. He also could easily have added, “I don’t understand.”
But here is a bulletin:
God doesn’t owe us any explanation.
He has often said, “My ways are not your ways.” And He has reminded us that He is a Sovereign God. He can bless whomever He wants to bless and curse whomever He wants to curse. He is God Almighty over all.
So... what do we do? Just hunker down and endure? Not exactly.
We should follow the example of David and Habakkuk, among others. Later in Psalm 22 David acknowledges the holiness of the Lord and follows with this direction for his own life.
I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, I will praise you among your assembled people. Praise the Lord.... Honor Him...Show him reverence...
Psalm 22: 22-23, 25 NLT
And one of the most beautiful canticles of praise in the whole Bible came from Habakkuk after he had complained to the Lord. In it the prophet says that if the whole world falls apart, “...yet, I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign Lord is my strength!” (Habakkuk 3:18-19 NLT)
The old hymnwriters got it right.
Trials dark on every hand,
And we cannot understand,
All the ways that God would lead us
To that blessed Promised Land;
But He guides us with His eye
And we’ll follow till we die.
For we’ll understand it better by and by.
In these days when we do not...cannot...understand what God is doing or why He is allowing all that is swirling around us, we must simply trust the heart of an all-loving God. He is Sovereign. And... He does understand!
God’s best...
Check your ego...
How’s your ego? One of the most challenging things for a leader is dealing with ego...with pride. If things go well, we have a tendency to pat ourselves on the back for the good planning and the good leadership we give that leads to success. If things go wrong, we can come up with a whole list of reasons why our plan failed.
- Others didn’t execute our good plan as well as they should have.
- Situational timing caused the plan to miss the mark.
Our ego works to keep us on top and others below us.
Someone has said, “A bad day for your ego is a great day for your soul.” That may be a good starting point for us today. Taming our ego...our pride...is one of the most difficult things, and one of the key areas where Satan does his work. Sadly, most of us don’t realize the amazing potential that awaits us if we can just let go of our pride, control our ego, and embrace God’s plan.
The Lord speaks directly about this issue. James said it well.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
James 4:10 NLT
When think about this, I like what Ken Blanchard says about EGO. In his book Lead Like Jesus, Blanchard equates our human ego to an anachronym.
EGO = Edging God Out.
That really says it, doesn’t it? When our ego takes over, we claim praise for ourselves that rightly should go to God. We tend to forget that anything we have, think, or do...anything...is a result of God’s grace in our lives. The Lord gives us breath. He brings about circumstances and experiences that help us develop and grow as leaders. And His Spirit provides inspiration to our thoughts. Yet we often simply Edge God Out and let our ego take over. We claim praise that belongs to the Lord and take it as our own. Edging God Out. And that is dangerous.
Through Jeremiah the prophet, the Lord admonishes us.
This is what the Lord says:
“Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom,
or the powerful boast in their power,
or the rich boast in their riches.
But those who wish to boast
should boast in this alone:
that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord
who demonstrates unfailing love
and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth,
and that I delight in these things.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
Jeremiah 9: 23-24 NLT
Ken Blanchard offers another definition for EGO that we would be wise to embrace.
EGO = Exalt God Only.
That means doing what Jeremiah wrote those thousands of years ago...boast only that we know God and understand and acknowledge that He alone is God...and we aren’t!
One of the warning signs that we are Edging God Out, according to Blanchard, is the constant use of the pronoun, “I”. I did this. I deserve that. My plans...my ideas.... And on and on. Take inventory of your own language and see how many times you fall into this trap. A phrase like, “If the Lord allows...” should be more than a trite slogan. It should permeate all we do. And we need to quickly and sincerely add at the end of an accomplishment, “Praise God for His great work in my life.”
Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, gave good advice.
Pride leads to disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom.
Proverbs 11:2 NLT
So...what will it be for you and your ego. Will you Edge God Out? Or will you, more and more, day by day, Exalt God Only? The decision is yours. The glory belongs to God.
God’s best...
