1 Samuel, Chapter 18, Verse 15
Seeing how he prospered, Saul feared David.
Insecure people spend a
lot of time in job justification. Think about it how much time do you or people
you know spend in justifying rather than striving to break free of fears and be
all God has envisioned them to be? Often insecure people are trapped in a cycle
of fear that retards their ability to give power and grace to others.
The law of Empowerment[1]
Saul was insecure. The Law of
Empowerment says that only secure leaders give power to others. But
what does it mean to be secure? Using the analogy of personal finance, let’s
look at what’s missing from the lives of insecure leaders. This will help us
better understand where security comes from and why it matters.
·
Paupers, debtors, and hoarders lack the real or
perceived financial security necessary to give generously to others. Paupers
have no source of income aside from the financial assistance they receive from
someone else. Penniless and dependent, they’re clearly unable to help others
financially. Leaders without purpose are like paupers. They
have no passion, low energy, and little drive to grow in influence. Usually,
their only source of power is the position they have been given by somebody
else. In terms of personal authority, they’re impoverished.
·
Debtors may have nice salaries, but their
expenses exceed their income. They’ve maxed out credit cards and taken out
hefty loans. Consequently, they’re stuck paying exorbitant interest rates on
the amounts they have borrowed. In an upside-down financial situation, they’re
in no position to give generously to others. Leaders without authenticity
are like debtors. Someone deeply in debt may appear wealthy, even though
they’re secretly on the verge of bankruptcy. The closer you inspect their life,
the more signs of dysfunction you see. Similarly, inauthentic leaders may seem
to have all the tools to lead with excellence. However, they are missing the
crucial component of moral authority. They do not practice the values they
preach, and they prefer to keep others at arm’s length to hide their
shortcomings.
·
Hoarders are sitting on a pile of wealth, but
they think only of protecting it rather than of sharing it with others. They
have the plentiful resources but are unwilling to part with them. Leaders without humility resemble
hoarders. Having put their talents to work, they enjoy a significant amount
of power. However, they’re worried about others taking it from them or gaining
more of it than they have. So, instead of using their influence to empower
others, they keep it for their own benefit.
As leaders, we can only lift others
up when we’re standing on a firm foundation. Purpose, authenticity, and
humility give us a secure, stable base from which to lead.
Purpose
is the answer to the question: why do you want to lead? The best leaders have a
purpose that is greater than they are. Their “why” involves more than
accumulating money or seeking self-actualization. They see leadership as a
calling rather than a career, relishing the opportunity to use their unique
talents to accomplish something significant that will outlive them.
Authenticity
means being comfortable in your own skin. Authentic leaders have
self-awareness, self-respect, self-confidence, and emotional maturity. They
prize integrity above image, and they seek to build trust with others on the
basis of their personal character.
Humility
is often wrongly associated depreciating and downgrading ourselves. However,
true humility flows out of gratitude and comes when we credit God for our
blessings and others for our successes. As Rick Warren teaches, a humble leader
doesn’t deny his strengths; he’s simply honest about his limitations. Humble
leaders feel no need to trumpet their status, are unthreatened by criticism,
and revel in the accomplishments of others. They put their pride aside so that
others have room to shine.
Modern
man at times out of an inability to cope with the stress of everyday life seeks
relief via the vices of sex, drugs and rock and roll. I wonder what would
happen to our world if instead of dealing with stress with the distractions of
pleasure and entertainment; we acknowledged our dependence on the grace of God;
found our purpose and had true gratitude for our blessings.
Weed Day[2]
April 20 has become a counterculture
holiday in North America, where people gather to celebrate and consume
cannabis. Some events have a political nature to them, advocating
for the legalization of cannabis. North American observances have been held at
Hippie Hill in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park near the Haight-Ashbury
district, the University of Colorado's Boulder campus, Ottawa,
Ontario, at Parliament Hill and Major's Hill Park, Montreal, Quebec at Mount
Royal monument, Edmonton, Alberta at the Alberta Legislature Building, as
well as Vancouver, British Columbia at the Vancouver Art Gallery. The
growing size of the unofficial event at UC Santa Cruz caused the Vice
Chancellor of Student Affairs to send an e-mail to parents in 2009 stating:
"The growth in scale of this activity has become a concern for both the
university and surrounding community."
Easter Thursday is a day for Commemoration of the departed which is
a Slavic tradition.
Thursday of the Dead is described as a universal day for visiting tombs,
engaged in most assiduously by townspeople, followed by fellaheen
("peasants"), and then Bedouins. Women would go to the cemetery
before sunrise to pray for the departed and distribute bread cakes known as kaʿak al-asfar
("the yellow roll") and dried fruit to the poor, to children, and to
relatives. Children would also receive painted eggs, generally yellow in color.
The sharing of this tradition between Christians and Muslims is thought to date
back to at least the 12th century when Saladin urged Muslims to adopt Christian
customs in order to promote religious tolerance in the region.[3]
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Divine
Mercy Novena
Remember comedian Benny Hill died, 1992
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