Think About It

What does it mean to be humble?   Most of us are quite familiar with the concept of humility – we typically know it when we see it – but what does it mean?   I have been taught that humility is the ability to see ourselves accurately in light of the world around us.   No, it isn’t always allowing others to run roughshod over us … it isn’t sitting back and not expressing an opinion … it isn’t having a poor self-image.   Humility allows us to make good decisions by properly assessing our role in any given circumstance.   Sometimes, it means taking a backseat to others who are more capable and other times, it means that we take the lead.   It might be stepping back and allowing others to try their hand at leadership, or it requires us to be point person.   Humility is accomplished by reading the room and analyzing who is best suited to do what. In a sense, humility and wisdom are closely linked.   When we have wisdom, we are more apt to demonstrate...

Have you ever been in the middle of a conversation and had someone come up and interject their opinions?   They had missed all the background for the discussion – but they were willing to share their insights.   It’s kind of irritating when people do that, isn’t it – I mean, what gives them the right to interject themselves into a discussion they may not fully understand.   Now, let’s stop here for a second and revise the question – have we ever done that?   Have we ever offered an opinion on a subject for which we may (or may not) have had good information or even a knowledge of the foundation that had been laid before our interjections?   As irritated as I may have gotten when people did that to me, now that I think about it … I am a bit embarrassed when I have done that to others. If it makes us feel any better, we probably aren’t alone sticking our noses where they don’t belong.   In fact, I would imagine it is quite common in human interactions – or ...

Wisdom is a noble pursuit.   In fact, the Wise Man of God promoted it by writing, “ My son, let them not vanish from your sight; keep sound wisdom and discretion, so they will be life to your soul and adornment to your neck.” (Proverbs 3:21-22).   Now, while wisdom is discussed a lot, have we ever thought about what it is?   This previous quandary led me to a dictionary definition that includes, “the quality of having experience, knowledge and good judgment”.   As I ponder this definition – as well as wisdom itself – I see some important qualities.   First, it requires gathering enough life lessons to compare and contrast the best option.   Wisdom isn’t about making a quick decision as much as it is making a proper decision.   Another element that stands out to me is the ability to slow our reaction time to come up with the proper response.   Speed isn’t as important as “smarts”.   A part of this process includes the abili...

One of the noble things about leadership is a conviction to help others make the best decisions they can; however, the opposite is true:  one of the most stressful aspects of leadership is a desire to help people make the best decisions they can.  Leaders – and, in fact, all caring people – take our responsibility towards others very seriously.  We want to do everything we can to ensure that the people around us make appropriate choices.  In fact, most of us would even be happy to make decisions for others; however, there are two things wrong with that.  First, we can’t make decisions for others – they don’t give us the power to do that.  None of us have a moral or spiritual “power of attorney” to be the decision-maker for others.  Even if that was possible, it wouldn’t be practical.  People need to live their own lives – for good or for bad. While this realization might cause us some distress, I also think that it can bring us a sense of peace....

Happy Birthday to Bobby McFerrin.  I don’t know how many people today remember McFerrin, but his words were on most of our lips back in 1988.   The innovative singer had the mega hit, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”.  I didn’t realize this factoid until recently; but the song was the first a cappella song to ever reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.  (It topped the charts for two weeks.)  The song also won the 1989 Grammy Awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.  That’s quite a lot of accolades for a simple but catchy tune.  I have to admit, I was caught up in happiness the song generated; however, that lost some of its luster when, in 2014, Robin Williams, who was prominently featured in the music video, took his own life.  It kind of makes you wonder what happened between the song and the suicide.  In an interesting dichotomy of life, a lot of us struggle with this dilemma.  We want to belie...

I love the thought of forgiveness.   In religion, there may be no more welcome concept than the belief that God can and will forgive us.   However, as we bank on forgiveness, we must not become too lax in following through with another Biblical concept – obedience.   It brings peace and comfort to count on mercy, but that doesn’t give us license to do whatever we want.   This libertinism might be present in our modern society, but it’s not our creation.   At least the thought that believers might become too imbalanced seemed to prompt Paul to write, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?    May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2).   Not only is using freedom for a life of disobedience inappropriate, but it is also unimaginable. Let’s be thankful for the gift of grace we have been offered, but let’s not neglect our responsibility and accountability.   W...