I’ve noticed that we live in a blame culture. There always seems to be an excuse when something doesn’t go to plan. This runs throughout all spheres of UK society: In politics, public services, the education sector, the business world and even in the sporting world! Just watch an interview with a politician, how often do you actually hear a sincere apology or recognition of failure? Listen to an interview from a football manager of the losing side. You can guarantee the defeat will be because of someone else, the ref, the linesman or even the bounciness of the balls! The truth is we live in a society with accountability issues.
I don’t know about you but I’ve spent the last few weeks reflecting on the past 12-months and looking towards the coming year asking “what are the things that I want to achieve and what are the things I need to drop?” It’s a time of year to stop and assess all that’s going on in our live. We make resolutions and set goals that, according to Forbes, only 8% of us will keep. Why is this? Why do we find it so hard to keep a few simple goals? When I look at mankind’s achievements over the last century, I cannot reconcile that in our capabilities for greatness, so few of us can keep a bunch of simple resolutions!
Last week I attended a work retreat offsite and we did a Bill Hybels training event on leadership. The second session was called: “The Toughest Person You Lead.” Bill was not referring to the objective upstart that every team seems to have, but he was calling us to look closer to home, to ourselves. His point was that we cannot lead others effectively until we learn to manage ourselves, take ownership for our short-comings and our personal development.
To manage ourselves effectively I believe we need to regularly do three things:
- Self-Inventory - Learn about yourself, what are your strengths, your opportunities for improvement, your calling? Measure your EQ, take the Myers Briggs find out how you tick. Ask a trusted friend what you are good at, and what things you could improve.
- Connect with a Mentor - Be accountable to somebody, work through self-goals with them, ask them to challenge and encourage you regularly.
- God Inventory - Most importantly, what does God want to tell you? What things in your life is He is happy with, what things isn’t He happy with? Without stopping to listen to God we are effectively blind.
King David knew this, and in Psalm 139 he asks God to:
“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”
Psalms 139:24 NLT
At the time of writing, David was the King of Israel, he possessed everything he could ever want and yet we see a humility that defied his earthly position. Why did David come before God and ask Him to do an inventory on his heart? David was described as a man after God own heart (1 Sam 13:14) so surely he was the last person who needed a spiritual MOT? I would argue that this is one of the very reasons that David was a man after God’s own heart. Psalm 139:24 is a key insight into what is required to thrive as a follower of Jesus.
David was not whiter than white, he made mistakes, sometimes of epic proportions, but he understood the importance of getting himself back on track with God and controlling the things he could control, the ability to manage himself.
We cannot control many of life’s influences, we cannot control what our friends and colleagues do, sadly we cannot control the economy or either the weather (my monsoon hit wedding testifies to this). We can however, (through the gifts of the Holy Spirit Galatians 5:22-23) control how we react to life’s situations and we can control ourselves. What would it look like if we were to be the kind of people that proactively took ownership and responsibility for ourselves, for our fitness, our churches and our walks with Jesus?
I pray that you will grow closer to God in 2017 and that he will bless you in ways you can’t imagine!!
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