Tag: Motivational

Don’t Be a Nodding Head

Published on by juliesathoffLeave a comment

As a teacher/speaker/coach, I LOVE interaction when I am looking at the people in front of me. (As long as no one is throwing anything).

When there is a strong point I am trying to make, I get excited to see eyes light up and heads start nodding in agreement and excitement. Though I get excited that others are listening and getting what I’m trying to get across, but that is not the end goal. I don’t want others to just hear what I share, I want them to MOVE on it.

I could be the best speaker in the world who inspires people in pep-rallies over a retreat or conference, but if I don’t motivate you to MOVE in to an action that makes your life and walk with God better, it is a fail.

*Disclaimer – I am not the best speaker in the world or even close to it.

Who are your favorite people to listen to? Are they Bible study teachers? Motivational speakers? Pastors? Do you listen to them or do you really HEAR them? Do you nod your head, agreeing to what they say, or do you set a plan in place to start changing your life regarding what they taught?

If you hear or read something inspiring today? How can you put a change in to effect, today? Even if you just changed your behavior for the better by just 2% a day, in less than 2 months, that would equal a HUGE change!

What I learned today…I can learn a lot, daily. Unless I put what I’m learning in to practice, it will be wasted.

 

The “Wedding” Verse, Again

Published on by juliesathoffLeave a comment

Going back to the “Wedding Verse” and remembering, again, it’s not just a verse for weddings….Read 1 Corinthians below and think of the people in your life…those you are surrounded by…your friends, old and new…your family, kids, parents, spouse, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents…at work, your boss, co-workers, employees, …

”If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails….”

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

Sometimes the most significant truth is the easiest to overlook.  While reading self-help books and motivational books on leadership can be incredibly helpful and necessary, Paul, the author of Corinthians, reminds us that if we do not begin on a foundation of love, then all of our actions in the name of our faith are worth absolutely nothing.

Likely, we don’t wake up one day with the intent to leave out love.  Rather, it is something we forget as we get wrapped up in the busy details of our daily life.  Paul’s words are a HUGE reminder to the church to not forget our identity as loved people who are called to love others.  Yet, even when we forget, we are met by our loving God, who forgives us and shows us how to do life based on love.

Take a moment to reflect on the relationships God has put around you.  Are those relationships built on a foundation of love?  Are there ways you can change your behavior today to love others the way it directs us to in the verses above?

Remember, this isn’t about beating yourself up on how you have treated others.  Rather, it’s a time to reflect and look to God.  How might he be inviting you into deeper expressions of love…His love?

Today I learned…God puts people in our life that take a little extra grace so we can grow. Our job is to love those people. God made them for a reason, too.