Tag: Jesus

Categories
Weekly Blog

What Leaders Have to Protect Against Most

I believe strongly that any organization unwilling to reach outside itself will die. The same can be said for an organization’s leaders. Related…although I am absolutely committed to Catholicism, I believe that north of 90% of what all Christians believe we have in common. These two things in combination lead me to Reverend Rick Warren, Founder and Senior Pastor of Saddleback Church in Orange County, CA.  

My wife and I have visited Saddleback, attended Sunday service (experiencing hospitality that you wouldn’t believe), and met with Saddleback’s Pastor of Small Groups. Again, absolutely committed to our Catholic faith, I/we can be learning from others. 

The above is a preface to a blog Pastor Rick recently wrote on “pride” and how destructive it can be. Paraphrased below, you can access the blog here.

Leaders can often become their own biggest obstacle. When they start to see fruitfulness, they may be tempted to make everything about themselves. This is pride. The Bible says it’s the root of every other sin.

Pride leads to conflict, prevents growth, leads to anxiety, and angers God. The opposite of pride is humility. That’s one characteristic we want and need to develop. Leading is a heavy responsibility. We cannot do it without God’s help. 

Humility is a choice. It is something we do to ourselves. So how do we develop it in our lives? Start with these five steps.

Admit your sins honestly.

We all sin, but the Bible is clear that God is ready to forgive us. Proverbs 28:13 says, “A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance”. God gives second chances (and third, fourth, and hundredth chances) to the humble.

Evaluate your strengths realistically.

You’ve probably heard the saying—maybe from your own parents—that you can be anything you want to be. But it’s not true. If you don’t have the talent for a particular role, you won’t be able to do it. 

To deal with pride in your life, you need to honestly evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. The Bible says, “Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you” (Romans 12:3). Pride is based on a false image of ourselves. Humility is based on a true and realistic image. Humility is being honest about both your strengths and weaknesses.

Enjoy your success gratefully. 

Remind yourself daily of two pride-busting truths. First, everything we have is a gift from God. Paul asks in 1 Corinthians 4:7, “What are you so puffed up about? What do you have that God hasn’t given you?”.

The truth is, we wouldn’t even have breath if God hadn’t given it to us. Anything God does through you isn’t about you. It’s about Him. Everything you achieve is about Him. 

Second, one day we will give an account before God for what we did with what He gave us. It’s hard to be prideful when you realize that one day every one of your secrets will be exposed. It’s a humbling realization.

Serve others unselfishly.

The greatest antidote to pride is to give yourself away by helping others. It’s the only way to live more happily and humbly. 

The Bible teaches: “Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. Don’t just think about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and in what they are doing” (Philippians 2:3-4).

Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less. We need to get so busy serving others that we don’t have time for our own gripes and complaints. 

Depend on Jesus continually.

Depending on God is how we express humility. In fact, dependence is the heart of humility. God didn’t design us to be independent—but dependent on Him. Stress often comes from taking upon ourselves what we were never intended to do. 

You’ll never get rid of all the stress in your life, but you can depend upon God for the ultimate outcome. Your circumstances don’t have to determine your response. The Bible promises great blessings when we are humble and depend on God. Proverbs 22:4 says, “Respecting the Lord and not being proud will bring you wealth, honor, and life”.

Outwardly, you may be an extremely successful leader. But your success is not about you—it’s about what God will do through you. 

Thank you, Rev. Rick. Great stuff!!! I read Rev. Rick’s posts regularly. You can get them and other resources at https://pastors.com. Let’s learn together.  

As always, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] with questions, comments, concerns, challenges, or prayer requests.  

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

God made you for GREATNESS!!!

Mark Joseph

Categories
Weekly Blog

The Recipe for Forgiveness

Do you have trouble forgiving others? Forgiving yourself? Do you hold resentments? The fact is that ongoing conflict with others is one of the primary impediments to peace in our lives. 

In last week’s blog, I cited Reverend Rick Warren of Saddleback Church. Although I don’t intend to make a long-term habit of it, I’m doing so again here. Rev. Rick has a great formula for forgiveness. Paraphrased below, you can get the full post here.

As per Rev. Rick, when you find yourself in the midst of conflict, here’s a simple five-step, biblical path to peace.

PLAN a peace meeting. (Matthew 5:24)

Take the initiative. Don’t wait for the other person to make the first move. It doesn’t matter if you’re the offended or the offender. It’s always your move. Take the initiative because Jesus said so. Plus, it shows that you’re more mature.

You will never resolve conflict accidentally. You must intentionally deal with it or it will never go away. In Matthew 5:24, Jesus emphasizes that you’re to begin this process “at once” . It’ll get harder the longer you wait.

EMPATHIZE with their feelings. (Philippians 5:24)

Once you begin the peace meeting, start with the other person’s pain. You’re usually thinking of your own hurts when you’re upset. You need to do the opposite. Think more about the other person than yourself. Try to understand the pain behind their angry words. Ask yourself, “How can I help the other person?”

One benefit of conflict is that it usually leads to greater intimacy in the relationship because it helps you better understand the other person as you empathize with their pain.

ATTACK the problem, not the person. (Proverbs 15:1)

You can’t focus on fixing the problem and fixing the blame at the same time. If you go to the peace meeting thinking you’ll blame the other person, then forget it. You can’t make peace like that. Proverbs 15:1 says, “A gentle answer quiets anger, but a harsh one stirs it up”.

Engage your mind before you engage your mouth. Then say helpful words, not ones that tear the other person down. As Paul writes in Ephesians 4:29, use “only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed”.

COOPERATE as much as possible. (Romans 12:18)

Be a bridge-builder and not a bridge-destroyer. In Romans 12:18, the Bible reminds us to live at peace with everyone, as much as possible. Your ability to get along should be a hallmark of your Christian life.

That means you must be willing to pay the cost. Peacemaking always has a cost. It will cost your ego and selfishness. You’ll need to give up your desire to always be right. And when you do, you’ll begin to build bridges.

EMPHASIZE reconciliation, not resolution. (2 Corinthians 5:18)

Reconciliation doesn’t mean you’ll resolve all the problems in your relationship. It simply means to reestablish the relationship. Often you have legitimate differences in your relationships and will never fully resolve them. Reconciliation means you bury the hatchet, not the issue. You keep talking about it, but you talk about it harmoniously. 

Reconciliation focuses on the relationship, not the problem.

The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:18 that God has modeled reconciliation for us. When you work to reconcile your relationships, you’re doing what God has already done in your relationship with Him. Working toward reconciliation is the most Christlike thing you can do.

You can become a peacemaker in your home, in your organization, and in your community. The Bible tells us, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). 

You’ll notice that the first letter of the above steps create the acronym PEACE. I love how Rev. Rick always references Scripture. It’s a great reminder that all of life’s lessons can be found in the Bible and are taught by the Church. As indicated last week, you can find Rev. Rick at https://pastors.com. 

As always, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] with questions, comments, concerns, challenges, or prayer requests.  

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

God made you for GREATNESS!!!

Mark Joseph

Categories
Weekly Blog

Planning for a Life with Purpose

It is said that most people spend more time planning a two-week vacation than they do their lives. There’s evidence that many are additionally challenged with managing the “plan”, even if having established one. Does any of this resonate with you? If so, you’re not alone. And remember this…it’s never too late to start being (or enhancing) the person you want to be, the person God is calling you to be.

We started this series by talking about your life’s experiences (lifeline), which led to your “why”. Both play an important role in your life plan (last week’s blog), which would hopefully include God’s purpose for your life. Here we talk about how to incorporate your life plan into day-to-day life.

In knowing my material, it won’t surprise you that I suggest taking the planning process to prayer. Just prior to your planning for the month, week, and day, you could say something like,

“Dear Lord, please be with me as I move through my life. Help me to recognize, prioritize, and accomplish all that you want for me and from me. Help me to continue to understand that it is not me, but You working through me in all things. Therefore, help me to do my best, then surrendering all over to You”.

Monthly Planning

To do your Monthly Plan, you’ll want to reference your Life Plan, as well as your previous monthly plans. Asking God to put the right things on your mind, record on one of the pages in your Planner your personal goals, projects, and To Do’s. All the above things apply for your professional life too.

Note – although not everyone has a job outside his/her home, there are typically things that fall into the “personal” category and others that could be referred to as “work” or “professional”. The point is that this system can be used by everyone.

Weekly Planning

For the weekly plan, I’d suggest identifying:

  • Phone calls to be made
  • Emails to be sent
  • To Do’s
  • Projects
  • Goals
  • To Do’s
  • “Waiting On”

Daily Planning

What I do first thing in the morning or the evening before, is to identify those things from the Weekly Plan that I want to get done that particular day.

 

Execution of Your Plan

As I am moving through my day, achieving the things I’ve identified, I mark them down, with a “+” if I’m waiting on something or a double checkmark when completed in total.

Prayer, Planning, and Solitude – to be done at the end of your day, week, and month.

  • Daily
    • Review what you’ve accomplished, making sure all notes and tasks are updated.
    • Set your priorities for the next day, identifying them as described above
  • Weekly
    • Construct your weekly calendar, moving forward whatever you didn’t achieve from the last week.
    • Anything that you are waiting on will go to the “Waiting On” list.
  • Monthly – referencing your Life Plan and last month’s Plan, you assess what you’ve accomplished or not and what you want to keep on the plan or not. You of course can be adding things. It will help to reference your weekly plans as well.

I hope all this was helpful. As my dear old Dad used to say, “plan your work and work your plan”. It’s worked for me. I’m confident it can work for you.

God made you for Greatness. Hopefully these last four weeks, starting with:

  • Your lifeline
  • Then moving to your “why”
  • Followed by how to do your life plan
  • And now how to plan and execute

…help you to find and maximize the Greatness God wants for you.

If you’d like more detailed documents on these processes, please email be at the address below and we’ll send them to you.

As always, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] with questions, comments, concerns, challenges, or prayer requests.

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

God made you for GREATNESS!!!

Mark Joseph

Categories
Weekly Blog

What’s Your Life Plan?

In the last couple weeks, we’ve discussed your life’s experiences (lifeline) and how to discern your “why”, that which gets you up in the morning, what motivates you on a daily basis. Those things are foundational to helping you develop a plan for your life and manage it to success, subjects of this blog and next week’s.All of this speaks to the unique God given gifts you have, coupled with your special purpose on this earth…all for God’s glory and the only way to bring you true peace, joy, and fulfillment. To that end, let’s get started.Like with anything, I would suggest that you take your life planning process to prayer. Like with any goal, it helps to understand where you want to finish. For purposes of a life plan, it also makes sense to understand how you want to be remembered. Finally, in understanding where you are currently, you can identify the steps you need to take to reach your long-term goals.Steps for your Life Plan include:

  • Identifying those you want to leave an impact on; then describing that impact over the course of your life and theirs’.
  • Identifying the priority areas in your life, including the people who are priorities
    1. Identify the goal…what you want the future to be
    2. Detail the current situation
    3. Discern and detail the steps to go from the current situation to your goal
  • Revisiting of the Life Plan

Example from Mark
Identifying those you want to leave an impact on; then describing that impact
My list includes the following:

  • God (my Faith life)
  • Cyndi (my wife)
  • Danielle, Tricia, Robert (our kids)
  • Kids’ Spouses and Grandchildren
  • My Parents and Brothers, their Spouses and Kids
  • Colleagues and Associates, including Volunteer Organizations
  • Friends and Acquaintances
  • Parish Community and the Broader Catholic Church

Picking from one of the above, a sample from my Life Plan is:
 

  • Colleagues and Associates, including Volunteer Organizations    
    • I want my colleagues and associates to remember me as a strong and compassionate leader, who loved them more than the cause or the organization. I want them to have known me as their brother in Christ, someone who lives his faith, always puts God first, and exudes the love of Christ. I pray that they remember me as always helping them be a better version of themselves, helping them internalize God’s unconditional love, with it being my desire to love them into loving themselves, having a healthy self-love, and realizing that they were each made for greatness, thereby living lives of peace, joy, and fulfillment. I hope that what I’ve done in my life serves as an example to them, living out Jesus’ Great Commandments…to love God, love our neighbors, and Great Commission, to make disciples; and how these things combined with finding my life’s purpose, gave me great peace, joy, and fulfillment. Finally, I hope that they view our work together as significant and impactful, helping people feel the love of Christ and sharing that love with others, being disciples and making disciples, ultimately revitalizing and reenergizing the Church.

Identifying the priority areas in your life
The priorities I’ve established for my Life Plan include:

  • God
  • Cyndi
  • Health (Self)
    1. Physical
    2. Intellectual and Emotional
  • Kids – D, T, RJ, and their families
  • Ministry/Career
  • Family and Friends
  • Finances

As indicated above, the steps include:

  • Identifying the goal
  • Understanding your current status
  • Discerning the steps to go from current to goal

An example from my Life Plan is the following:

  • Physical Health

Long-Term Objective:
To be the healthiest and most energetic possible version of me, allowing for the great and impactful life that God has planned for me. Detailed Desired Outlook:I am 177-179 pounds, in great cardio shape, and have very good muscular tone, working out 6 days per week (3 cardio, 3 weights/bike), always endeavoring to improve. I eat in moderation, a very healthy diet, 99% of the time. I don’t drink, smoke, or take any drugs. Under the guidance of my health coach and wife, I take supplements and engage in homeopathic remedies. I am highly energized throughout the day and sleep well at night. Knowing how to relax and being at peace, my stress level is low. I have a zest for life and love my wife.Current Situation:

  • I exercise at least 5 days per week. I eat healthy most of the time as well, although I sometimes eat too much. I have room to improve on both.
  • I have a chronic sleeping problem, waking up 2-4 times each night, sometimes not able to get back to sleep.

Steps:

  • Exercise 6x/week, building on past success, getting stronger and in better cardio shape
  • Eat in better moderation; continue very healthy diet and regiment of supplements
  • Investigate ways to sleep better

Revisiting of the Life Plan
My suggestion is the following:

  • Quarterly Review – that you revisit your Life Plan quarterly, reviewing it to remind yourself of what it includes, then having it be reflected in your Monthly Plans.
  • Annual Study – that you take additional time, more than a review, to study and amend your Life Plan. Make it a working document, updating it and dating those updates as you go, so that you can track how the Lord is working in your life.

As always, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] with questions, comments, concerns, challenges, or prayer requests.God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!
God made you for GREATNESS!!!

 

Mark Joesph