Tag: Advent

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love motivation

Love and Forgiveness

Yesterday, I wrote about the Fourth Sunday of Advent. This week, it’s about love. Love and forgiveness go hand in hand. Though most of us like the idea of unconditional love, not too many of us are keen on the concept of forgiveness. But the two ideas make the world a much better place.

“Forgiveness is the final form of love.”
Reinhold Niebuhr

Reinhold Niebuhr Quotes. BrainyQuote.com, BrainyMedia Inc, 2021. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/reinhold_niebuhr_121403, accessed December 20, 2021.

We prefer revenge to grace. Most movies follow that plot. Who would watch a movie about forgiveness anyway? They are out there but rarely do they become box office hits. But in the real world, letting someone off the hook is much more practical than revenge.

Business and Politics

You wouldn’t know it by the way business and politics are played these days. We are encouraged to own our enemies instead of doing good toward them. What do you mean show mercy? We are supposed to finish them off! Obliterate them! Off with their heads! Who cares about peace on earth, good will towards men? We have need to give them a taste of their own medicine!

But is that really wise? When will it all end? Is it when the strongest party destroys the other? How has that worked so far? When carried to the extreme, it brings genocide, famine and misery.

There is a better way.

“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.”

Leviticus 19:18 (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The problem with the killer instinct is it has the potential to kill. None of us like a threatening environment. But if we aren’t the ones seeking peace, mercy and good will, who will? Let there be peace on earth, and may we be the ones to bring it. It takes a lot of love and forgiveness.

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Christianity Christmas holiday

The Fourth Sunday of Advent is About Love

Advent Candles

The Fourth Sunday of Advent reminds us that Jesus came to earth because of agapé love. Jesus didn’t just teach about love, he showed it, then encouraged his followers to do the same. It’s the crescendo of a month of anticipation.

When we feel gratitude for receiving hope, peace, and joy, love flows freely. It makes life much easier.

“Faith makes all things possible… love makes all things easy.”
Dwight L. Moody

Dwight L. Moody Quotes. BrainyQuote.com, BrainyMedia Inc, 2021. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/dwight_l_moody_157630, accessed December 19, 2021.

The word for love in the original Greek text is “agapé.” it is interpreted as an unconditional, unmerited, goodwill; a willful act. It is an action, not just a feeling. As a result, we can love others when they aren’t very lovable.

Nobody can fall out of agapé love. It is a choice that goes beyond feelings. When we realize what God did for us in love, it makes us reconsider how we treat others.

One of my favorite Christmas songs is When Love Came Down by Point of Grace.

Point Of Grace: When Love Came Down (Live in Wichita, KS 2015)

Christmas is coming! We have a week to prepare. But it’s about more than the presents. It’s about agapé love. We can love others because love came down on the first Christmas. Because He showed us, we can have hope, peace, joy, and love. May you experience it and be able to show it as we enter the final week of Christmas.

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motivation

Finding Joy at Work

Finding Joy at Work

Yesterday was the third Sunday of Advent. This week’s Advent theme is joy. Now comes Monday! It is easy to think about joy when we are singing Christmas carols and contemplating the season that brings good news of great joy. But what about the rest of the week?

Yes, it is possible to find joy at work! A Harvard Business Review article, entitled Making Joy a Priority at Work, talks about why joy is an important part of the workplace. But often workplace culture gets in the way. We can be so focused on meeting sales goals, staying in our comfort zones, and resisting new ways of connecting, that we forget our emotions play a big part in success.

The writer goes on to say, “In any team environment, joy arises from a combination of harmony, impact, and, acknowledgment — all of which business leaders can engender in their organizations.” Yes, these are all qualities each of us would value and love to have in our workplaces.

Harmony

How we interact with each other brings harmony. When we are respectful, professional, and look out for each other, everyone benefits. If you ever had a child that has just started playing a musical instrument, you know how hard on the ears it is when they are just starting to play in a band. An elementary school band that hasn’t learned to play together in harmony can wreck a concert.

When we look out for our coworkers, are helpful, and destroy silos, we can work together in a harmony that brings an unbeatable competitive advantage.

Impact

Everyone wants to feel their part at work makes an impact. We want to know that what we do matters. We want to know that our idea has made a positive difference to the bottom line.

Harmony makes teams work. Impact comes both as team members and individuals. When we see that our part of the business is a valued part of the company’s success, it makes a big difference.

Acknowledgment

Everyone wants to feel acknowledged. We want to know that we are seen. If we feel we are just a number in a mindless bureaucracy, we tend to wonder if there is a point to it all. We may even make a little disharmony just to see if anyone notices. Perhaps, we stop seeing that we are making an impact.

Acknowledgment needs to come in a positive way. No one wants only to be acknowledged when they messed up. We forget that we tend to get the behavior that gets attention. If an employee only gets acknowledged for bad behavior, that is what the company will get more of.

Yes, it’s possible to have joy at work. As we get closer to Christmas, may we experience joy in our workplaces. May you receive some joy and be the giver of joy to those around you this week.

Categories
Christmas holiday

The second Sunday of Advent is About Peace

Advent Candles

Peace is something all of us would like, yet is in short supply. We would like peace with others as well as inner peace. If people would just see things our way, then there would be peace in the world, right?

We like what the angels sang to the shepherds. It sounds like music to the ears when we hear:

“…on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Luke 2:14 (KJV) Via BibleGateway.com

When I’ve done personality tests, most of them show I lean towards being a peacemaker. I like to get people working together, especially if they aren’t used to doing so. But I’ve come to realize the phrase, peace at any cost, is no peace at all.

Yes, we all desire peace. True peace brings wholeness and reconciliation. A false peace that only appeases and doesn’t bring wholeness leaves everyone empty. It doesn’t last for long.

May you find peace, both within and with others this holiday season. May it be a true peace that brings wholeness, rest and reconcilation.

Categories
Christianity

A Good and Perfect Gift

A good and Perfect Gift

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

James 1:17 (KJV) from BibleGateway.com

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. I’ve written before how I love this time of year.

Takers and Givers

This holiday weekend, I’ve read about flash mob robberies. It is where a group of thieves organize themselves to rob a store. The number of criminals overwhelms store employees so that they get away with the goods through brute force. As a result, thieves take what does not belong to them There is nothing good about taking what doesn’t belong to you.

You can’t take a gift. No one can take what is already given. When a gift-giver gives something with no strings attached, it is a sign of goodwill and generosity. A gift isn’t earned. It cannot be taken. It is frequently a sign of affection and love.

No Strings Attached

I have witnessed love through generosity and affection this weekend. And I will witness it today as I go to church and get ready to teach elementary kids about how contentment can prepare our hearts to be generous no matter how rich or poor they are. We will say, “You can always use what you have to help someone else.”

Good and perfect gifts come with no strings attached. There is no emotional baggage or terms. Advent reminds me that a good and perfect gift is coming. It will change the world forever. While it’s true the world can still be a dark place, there is hope in a good and perfect gift.

May the light of this season illuminate our hearts as we realize we can be the recipients, and perhaps the patron, of good and perfect gifts.

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”

Isaiah 9:2 (KJV) via Bible Gateway