A Proverb: “If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength!”1
This proverb begs the question: where do you find that kind of strength?
The more I read, the more I live, the more I am certain that the strength to persevere comes from a clear understanding of personal purpose. It provides the framework for handling what life throws our way. This kind of purpose is pure – it comes from inside. It cannot be manufactured in the caldron that mixes self-help books with motivational tapes and powerful speakers at the “rise up and take charge of your life” events - not that these are “bad” per se. In fact, they can help keep you focused.
Purpose begins when one takes the time to know who they are. Why they are here. And how they want to show up in life’s interactions.
Consider the story of writer from what is modern-day Turkey. He was smart. Well educated. Often spoke at public events in a time and place where what you said could get you imprisoned and/or publically flogged. History tells us it happened to him.
Enraged by his words, the crowds demanded public punishment and, as it was about to be delivered, he asked the local government enforcer if, in fact, they had authority over him - knowing he had a special class of citizenship that was recognized as distinctive in the place where he was speaking.
The result eliminated the flogging, but also grew into years of imprisonment, going from one jurisdiction to another. Near-death experiences on several journeys. Ultimately led to his death.
Yet, while he lived, he persevered. He continued speaking and writing. The underlying theme was: Reader, you have a choice – choose joy, discipline and obedience. Above all, live out your personal purpose with focus.
His life, lived with a passionate pursuit of purpose, is revealed in the historical record documenting his perseverance. His writings document his journey of finding and living out his purpose.
Are you living out your purpose?
1 Proverbs 24:10 (NIV)
Copyright ©2011 by P. Griffith Lindell
Showing posts with label knowing self. Show all posts
Showing posts with label knowing self. Show all posts
Monday, January 24, 2011
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Servant-leadership: KNOW YOURSELF – a Summary
I have posited that to become an authentic servant-leader, one must begin with “knowing self” and that knowledge is the result of integrating your understanding of ultimate purpose (your relationship with God), your ethical framework (how you treat fellow humans) and your teleology (your worldview that combines purpose with ethics to understand the past, respond to the present and to build for the future).
The fundamental question is: Were you created, the result of a supernatural, self-existent, all powerful being who made matter, energy and time and also made you in His image? Or, are you a developed being, the result of a random, materialistic process, that, somehow, in a vast amount of time, not only organized your physical substance to make you human, but also your mental and spiritual identity? Your answer shapes your understanding of self and how you go about living an “examined life.”
Understanding what it means to “know yourself” is not about “self-enlightenment.” I would go so far to say that it is a concept that is antithetical to today’s view of self. It is not becoming a lover of self - satiated with self, encouraged by a society that accepts “me” as a nominative case pronoun (“me and John went to the store….”). This is not a trivial grammatical error – it demonstrates the shift in culture that has permeated our thinking with a self-hyphenated language (self-awareness, self-actualization, etc.)
The great philosophers of the past (like Socrates who said: "The unexamined life is not worth living") understood the fundamental nature of this examination of self. All of our interactions with nature, with the spiritual world and with each other begin with a true understanding of self. God says that the effects of sin is death and that man, created in His image, was fully intelligent, capable, creative and controlled their environment developing what was needed to life successfully.
Man did not emerge from some animal-like state to the supposed current evolved intelligence. Humans, Scripture demonstrates, have moved in the opposite direction from their original created state. Humans are less equipped today to deal with the environment, each other and their own natures than Adam and Eve.
Examining your life, moving from where you are at birth (dominated by a sin nature Rom. 3:23) to where you need to be to have fellowship with your Creator is found in God’s revelation to his creation: 2 Tim. 3:16-17 "All Scripture (not some, not the ones you want, this is not a menu!) is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Knowing your self is not an exercise in “self-esteem” but it is a journey of humility. It must be noted that nowhere in Scripture are we told to seek “self-esteem;” rather we are warned repeatedly “not esteem ourselves highly” in relationship to others whether the ruler or the ruled- Deut. 17:14-20; 1 Kings 19:3-18; Proverbs 16:19; 25:6,7; Luke 14:7-11; Luke 16:15; - Romans 12:3.
A person at peace is better fit to lead. A person at peace with themselves is a result of having a deep peace with their purpose. They are at peace with others – their ethical framework works to benefit others and them. They are a peace with a troubled world because they have a clear sense of God’s sovereign control. As Daniel Schuman points out:
Are you really at peace? Do you know yourself, God’s way?
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
The fundamental question is: Were you created, the result of a supernatural, self-existent, all powerful being who made matter, energy and time and also made you in His image? Or, are you a developed being, the result of a random, materialistic process, that, somehow, in a vast amount of time, not only organized your physical substance to make you human, but also your mental and spiritual identity? Your answer shapes your understanding of self and how you go about living an “examined life.”
Understanding what it means to “know yourself” is not about “self-enlightenment.” I would go so far to say that it is a concept that is antithetical to today’s view of self. It is not becoming a lover of self - satiated with self, encouraged by a society that accepts “me” as a nominative case pronoun (“me and John went to the store….”). This is not a trivial grammatical error – it demonstrates the shift in culture that has permeated our thinking with a self-hyphenated language (self-awareness, self-actualization, etc.)
The great philosophers of the past (like Socrates who said: "The unexamined life is not worth living") understood the fundamental nature of this examination of self. All of our interactions with nature, with the spiritual world and with each other begin with a true understanding of self. God says that the effects of sin is death and that man, created in His image, was fully intelligent, capable, creative and controlled their environment developing what was needed to life successfully.Man did not emerge from some animal-like state to the supposed current evolved intelligence. Humans, Scripture demonstrates, have moved in the opposite direction from their original created state. Humans are less equipped today to deal with the environment, each other and their own natures than Adam and Eve.
Examining your life, moving from where you are at birth (dominated by a sin nature Rom. 3:23) to where you need to be to have fellowship with your Creator is found in God’s revelation to his creation: 2 Tim. 3:16-17 "All Scripture (not some, not the ones you want, this is not a menu!) is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Knowing your self is not an exercise in “self-esteem” but it is a journey of humility. It must be noted that nowhere in Scripture are we told to seek “self-esteem;” rather we are warned repeatedly “not esteem ourselves highly” in relationship to others whether the ruler or the ruled- Deut. 17:14-20; 1 Kings 19:3-18; Proverbs 16:19; 25:6,7; Luke 14:7-11; Luke 16:15; - Romans 12:3.
A person at peace is better fit to lead. A person at peace with themselves is a result of having a deep peace with their purpose. They are at peace with others – their ethical framework works to benefit others and them. They are a peace with a troubled world because they have a clear sense of God’s sovereign control. As Daniel Schuman points out:
“The Scriptures speak of fixing one’s thoughts on the positive too, but it is not simply replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. Instead, the Bible indicates that for one to experience the benefits of the peace of God, that person must first experience “peace with God”. Romans 5:1-5 reveals this truth. It states: Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in the our sufferings, knowing that our suffering produces endurance …character…hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Daniel Schuman © Website: www.renewABQ.com)
Are you really at peace? Do you know yourself, God’s way?
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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