You cannot really know the heart motives of another person. Criticism is often based on faulty assumptions about people who are different than us.
To one person, being cautious is an exercise of stewardship and responsibility.
To another, being cautious is a sign of fear or paranoia.
I saw this retweeted by one of my favorite sports analysts, and it resonated so much I had to share.
Dr. Andreo Spina, whom I’ve never met or heard of before this tweet, shared an idea I wish more people internalized.
100% of the time (literal, not exaggerated), whenever you hear a reporter, an entrepreneur, a pastor, a doctor, or other professional spend any noticeable amount of time talking about what other people in their profession do wrong/poorly that they don’t do, warning bells should go off.
100% of the time.
Some people make a name for themselves by shining light. Others make a name for themselves by differentiating themselves from “dark”.
These are not the same thing.
Have you ever felt guilty for pressing towards a career or a ministry or an artistic expression that you enjoy? I’m guilty. It’s almost as if I thought pleasure and enjoyment were signs of disobedience and sin. This is the result of the church’s representation of God in my childhood.
I can be blunt, abrasive, and unapologetic. I clearly can. But more often than not it doesn’t yield the result I want.
It doesn’t matter if people are “too easily offended” these days. I don’t win anything by trying to teach the world a lesson one person at a time.
When I speak, do I want to be understood? If yes, then the burden of learning how to speak in such a way that people will both listen and understand lies with me.
If I take the time and energy to speak but don’t give every effort to be worth hearing, then I’m wasting my own time.
As a parent, both your children’s needs and your adult responsibilities clamor for your attention at the same time. It’s easy to make your own concerns the priority and assume your son or daughter’s issue is really not as big a deal as they make it sound.
We know that babies cry to get attention for every need. There’s a phase kids go through as they learn more advanced and accurate methods of communicating needs.
When I don’t express my gratitude in any given situation, it’s not because I can’t. I’m never forcibly prohibited from thankfulness. It’s a choice. I used to tell myself that I couldn’t be thankful during the bad times. Whether because I feel like it’s not fair, it’s not just, or it’s not kind. Or I tell myself that I’m not glad this is happening. So what?
I don’t HAVE to NOT be thankful. So when I’m not, it’s because I choose to not be. And since thankfulness is ALWAYS within my power,
There are no simple answers to personal questions. “How are you?” sounds like a simple enough question. But it might as well be a grenade lobbed into your living room. I have no idea how to answer that question. How am I? I mean… I don’t know. Which things should I take into account when answering that question?
We think that fear is a natural result of knowing that something that can harm us is possible or even inevitable. I came across this IG post by Bill Johnson today, and it sparked a chain reaction of thought:
There are mornings like this when the world seems so much better than usual. The sunrise declares striking orange and pink tones, the sky looms large and spacious, and the air feels clean on the inhale.