Encouraging - Comfort

The safest place for ships is in the harbor, but that’s not why ships were built - Anonymous

My thesis here is that the climate of contemporary America has become so chronically anxious that our society has gone into an emotional regression that is toxic to well-defined leadership. This regression, despite the plethora of self-help literature and the many well-intentioned human rights movements, is characterized principally by a devaluing and denigration of the well-differentiated self. It has lowered people’s pain thresholds, with the result that comfort is valued over the rewards of facing challenge, symptoms come in fads, and cures go in and out of style like clothing fashions.

Edwin H. Friedman, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix (Seabury Books, New York, NY: 2007), 53.

Encouraging - Well-Differentiated Leader

I want to stress that by well-differentiated leader I do not mean an autocrat who tells others what to do or orders them around, although any leader who defines himself or herself clearly may be perceived that way by those who are not taking responsibility for their own emotional being and destiny. Rather, I mean someone who has clarity about his or her own life goals, and, therefore, someone who is less likely to become lost in the anxious emotional processes swirling about. I mean someone who can separate while still remaining connected, and therefore can maintain a modifying, non-anxious, and sometimes challenging presence. I mean someone who can manage his or her own reactivity to the automatic reactivity of others, and therefore be able to take stands at the risk of displeasing. It is not as though some leaders can do this and some cannot. No one does this easily, and most leaders, I have learned, can improve their capacity.

Edwin H. Friedman, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix (Seabury Books, New York, NY: 2007), 14.

Encouraging - Stewardship

There’s hardly a more sobering statement in Scripture than Romans 14:12: “So then, each one of us will give an account of himself to God.” The words “each one of us” apply to Christians and nonChristians alike. And though believers will be saved by grace and not by works, once in Heaven our reward there will be determined on the basis of our works. The Lord will “test the quality of each man’s work,” and for each it will be either that “he will receive his reward” or “he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames (1 Corinthians 3:13-15). So not only will we be held accountable for our time, but our eternal reward will be directly related to our earthly use of time.

Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO: 1991), 136.

Encouraging - Prosperity

After church today I took Cole for a wagon ride around the neighborhood. Cole loves being outdoors and who am I to complain when the leaves are changing and its still 70 degrees outside. As we strolled along I began to reflect on the morning’s message – a nice change of pace. As a young Christian nearly every sermon spoke to me; on a weekly basis I felt like Indiana Jones unearthing some long lost treasure. Blame part on aging, but most of the responsibility lies squarely on my inability to ask the Lord to help me see Scripture in a fresh way.

Our pastor addressed how to face prosperity well. He’s been teaching on David, so his examples stemmed from David’s life (1 Samuel 18:10-30). He also mentioned staggering statistics, such as 60% of NBA players and 78% of NFL players are broke within 5 years and 2 years of retirement respectively; but what spoke to me the most was a verse I have heard many times but with a fresh set of ears this morning (Proverbs 30:7-9).

7 "Two things I ask of you, O LORD;
do not refuse me before I die:
8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, 'Who is the LORD?'
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.

Is this my prayer for my life?
Is this how I orchestrate my life?
What two things would I ask of the Lord today?

Having more money would not make the leaves’ colors any more vibrant or enrich my walk with my son. Enjoy the people in your life today. Be a good steward of the resources the Lord entrusts to you, including your time and ask the Lord to give you a spirit of contentment whatever your circumstances may be.

Encouraging - Service

By the power of the Holy Spirit we must reject self-righteous service as a sinful motivation, and serve “in humility,” considering “others better” than ourselves (Philippians 2:3).

Can you serve your boss and others at work, helping them to succeed and be happy, even when they are promoted and you are overlooked? Can you work to make others look good without envy filling your heart? Can you minister to the needs of those whom God exalts and men honor when you yourself are neglected? Can you pray for the ministry of others to prosper when it would cast yours in the shadows?

In the Discipline of service, the issue is not always how well you serve, for even the world serves well when it leads to profit. But the Christian serves with humility because it leads to Christlikeness.

Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO: 1991), 122.

Encouraging - Spirtual Discipline

Discipline without direction is drudgery. But the Spiritual Disciplines are never drudgery as long as we practice them with the goal of Godliness in mind. If your picture of a disciplined Christian is one of a grim, tight-lipped, joyless half-robot, then you’ve missed the point. Jesus was the most disciplined Man who ever lived and yet the most joyful and passionately alive. He is our Example of discipline.

Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO: 1991), 24.

Encouraging - Catalysts for Change

Actually, God uses three primary catalysts for changing us and conforming us to Christlikeness, but only one is largely under our control. One catalyst the Lord uses to change is people….Another change agent God uses in our lives is circumstances….Then there is the catalyst of the Spiritual Disciplines. This catalyst differs from the first two in that when He uses the Disciplines, God works from the inside out. When He changes us through people and circumstances, the process works from the outside in. The Spiritual Disciplines also differ from the other two methods of change in that God grants us a measure of choice regarding involvement with them. We often have little choice regarding the people and circumstances God brings into our lives, but we can decide, for example, whether we will read the Bible or fast today.

Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO: 1991), 17-18.