I blogged a little about this yesterday. You can catch up here.
Consider the gifts God has placed in each of your family members…
Imagine these gifts engaged on a mission…
Imagine your family embracing a cause…
There are community mission opportunities to engage your family. Some coordinated by your local church. Some waiting to be coordinated by you.
Where can you take a group of families to engage with your community this June?
Featured here are friends who saw an unmet need in their community and were brave enough to do something about. These are amazing people. Take a click and see where God leads you…
I’ve followed Jonathan Cliff’s blog for a few years now. Not only is he funny… but I like how his mind works. Though we are like-minded as it relates to Children’s Ministry, he challenges my thinking. He’s graciously agreed to Guest Post on Jabberfrog today. This is a ‘no-lurk’ post. Share your thoughts, then hop over to his blog and take a closer look inside his head.
Do you ever compare yourself to others? I do. I’ll go ahead and admit that I sometimes try and size up people in the first few minutes with one standard-bearing question: Are they better than me, or am I better than them? It’s all very subjective, I don’t literally wonder if I’m a better person than someone; but I do wonder if my house is bigger, if my salary is larger, if my church is more heavily attended, if my marriage is healthier, and any other way that I could possibly walk away with a win in this dangerous “compare game.”
Now that you’ve lost total respect for me as a human being, let me say that I believe when you are left to your own human devices, that you are the exact same way. Think about it, how do you feel when you come back from a mission trip where you saw children without adequate clothes and housing? You feel terrible and sad, and leave with an appreciation for NOT being where they are, doing what they are doing. And how do you feel when you leave the dinner party of some fabulously rich medical professional? You feel terrible and sad, and leave with an appreciation for all they have that I do NOT have yet. If you’re not this person, then thank God for people like you.
As I’ve matured and grown to accept my place in the world (cue the Michael W. Smith song), I’ve learned to rise above this stupid “Compare Game.” I’m grown tired of trying to measure myself against the things and people I have no control over. As I read 2 Corinthians 10:12 from The Message Bible, I’m reminded that to compare myself with others is totally missing the point.
2 Corinthians 10:12 “But in all this comparing and grading and competing, they quite miss the point.”
Here are four reasons why the “Compare Game” is a losing proposition:
I unfairly compare myself to others. I can’t compare my 2 year journey through Bible College with the Doctor that spent 10 years in medical school. Apples and oranges my friend.
I compare the GAINS of others and not the LOSSES. We do such a great job sometimes of covering the losses of others, and only seeing the positive. Some people have much more than me, because they’ve given up much more than me.
I tend to overlook my own personal success. I have been good at some things, but when I play the compare game I’m often leaving my own success hidden in the background.
I disapprove of my own choices. When I fail to take ownership of my own choices in life, then it become easy to be the loser when playing the compare game.
On this great journey of being myself, may the Lord help me to see myself in the light of his wonderful grace and never-ending mercy. I’m striving to only compare myself with the perfect one, Jesus. In this game I always fall short, but it has never kept me from Him.
Leadership is a common theme at LifeChurch.tv. It’s a significant part of our staff culture. Look at my book shelf in my office and you’ll find a plethora of books with a leadership theme. Check out my Google Reader and it’s loaded with leadership blogs to follow. Though there is no official leadership training in our organization, it clearly shapes me and my role within LC. I value the leadership investment I’ve received in the past 8 years. Yet I’m in a season where I notice a trend in my leadership. Understanding the value of leadership, I will tackle hard conversations head on… dig into challenging situations. But my pastoral approach isn’t where it could be. This an area I want to grow in this year.
So… acknowledging that what I read strongly influences how I grow, I want to focus on pastoral care materials for a season. What pastoral care books do you recommend?
