Power Up Your SPIRIT
“We are able to love God and other people because God loved us first.”
1 John 4:19 EASY
Have you ever looked at someone at work, or outside work and said, “This person doesn’t deserve love”?
Probably not, because we don’t like to see ourselves as cruel people.
But you’ve had thoughts like,
“I don’t want to help him because he doesn’t deserve it”
“Bad things should only happen to bad people like her”
“This guy acts like the devil at work. I hope he gets fired”
These thoughts are regular thoughts that we see as normal. But they only express the wickedness in the human heart.
We sometimes feel others are unworthy of love because of how poorly they work, how badly they behave, their terrible habits or the weird beliefs they have.
But the anchor scripture tells us something important that we must take note of:
We can love everyone.
It’s crazy because when those wicked thoughts run through our minds, love is not in the picture, as if we don’t have it.
But when we choose to see it as a duty, we enable that capacity to love.
I’ve written off many people in my life – from team members who willingly decided to be mediocre, to friends who I felt would not succeed because they couldn’t be trusted.
But now I know better, that when I put love first, I see people differently and have more compassion to help them than to judge them.
The natural man still kicks in many times and gets me to judge others, but when I notice it and make the switch, I know I’m doing something right.
God loves you. You can love others too.
Hack Your BODY
How does loving others help us work differently?
A team member once approached me for a loan, which I gave to him.
As is my custom, I only give what I can part with, but I never tell that to the receiver so I can test their integrity with money.
Payback day came and passed, and I didn’t hear from him. Previously, I would have written him off and vowed to never give him money again because I couldn’t trust him.
But one day, as I looked at him intently, I had so much compassion that I called him aside and explained to him what I did.
He was genuinely sorry and explained why he couldn’t pay back.
I’ve given him more loans and gifts since then.
Love makes us look stupid sometimes, but that’s what makes us different.
- You advise and mentor the team members struggling with being excellent because you’re different.
- You buy a birthday gift for the colleague who got you in trouble with your superior because you’re different.
- You help your toxic boss or work partner restore his relationship with his son because you’re different.
These look like unthinkable actions, but they pay dividends eventually. I believe we will feel better about ourselves too.
Grow Your SOUL
“I can make today better if I…”
(source: GrowthDay)
Put some intentionality into your day. How can you take it from 1 to 100? Perhaps, it’s by showing more love to someone, or just doing that task you’ve been putting off.
Just do it!
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