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Pouring out our Strengths

April 26, 2012 in Leadership, Living our Faith with 21 Appreciated Comments

Photo Credit: Mike Fleischmann (mikefleischmann.com)

We love knowing our strengths.
We enjoy discovering how we are uniquely created.

Knowing that we’ve made a difference in someone’s life, finding out that we are the only person our friends come to with certain issues, discovering that we are gifted at music or writing or photography or cooking or any number of areas can be a rewarding experience.

Our strengths give us value.
They give us purpose.
They set us apart and help us stand out from the crowd.

Knowing our strengths can be very affirming.

So we take tests, we attend conferences, we buy books, try out new hobbies, take classes, question our family and friends trying to find that one strength, that one attribute that makes us unique.

We want our strengths to benefit us.

Continue Reading…

Admitting our Strengths

April 22, 2012 in Living our Faith with 23 Appreciated Comments

Photo Credit: Makarios International Educational Development

We all have weaknesses.
We all have areas in our lives we’re just not good at.

We struggle with insecurities. We have that dream we can’t accomplish. We have that area of lack we can’t overcome. We have that lesson we just can’t master, that skill we just can’t get, that talent or trick we just can’t learn.

We all suck at something.

It’s not hard for us to pinpoint our weaknesses. It’s not difficult to make a list of where we are lacking. It doesn’t take an outsider to make us aware of where we fall short.

We can point out our faults and flaws.
We can list out our limitations.
We know our failures and lack and shortcomings.

We know our weaknesses.

But what about our strengths? What about those areas where we excel? What about our gifts and talents and unique qualities?

Those aren’t as easy to pinpoint.

Wise in our Brokenness

April 19, 2012 in Life, Living our Faith with 23 Appreciated Comments

Photo Credit: Joe Houghton (Creative Commons)

Sharing our brokenness isn’t easy.
Putting our weakness on display isn’t second nature to us.

It requires pulling down the walls around our heart. It means opening ourselves up to ridicule and rejection. It leaves us standing before someone completely vulnerable and giving them information they could easily use to turn around and stab us in the back.

It’s intimidating.
Scary.
Goes against everything we’ve been taught.

And leaves us vulnerable to more hurt and pain.

We don’t like showing weakness in front of others. We don’t want to put ourselves in a place where others can hurt us even more. We strive to keep ourselves from being at the mercy of someone else.

It’s not fun to share our brokenness.
Especially within the church.

Brokenness on Display

April 17, 2012 in Life, Living our Faith with 26 Appreciated Comments

Photo Credit: Kathryn Cartwright (Creative Commons)

We don’t like sharing our brokenness.
We aren’t naturally inclined to put our weakness on display.

We would rather hide our mistakes, cover up our faults, mask our weaknesses and brokenness, and pretend our areas of sin and shame don’t exist.

It’s how Adam and Eve responded when they sinned.

Scriptures say when they ate of the fruit of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, their eyes were opened, they recognized good from evil, saw they were naked, and felt shame.

So they covered themselves with leaves.
And hid from God.

They didn’t want God to see the mistake they made. They didn’t want to put their areas of weakness and vulnerability on display, both physically and emotionally. They knew they were flawed, they saw their brokenness, and they wanted to hide.

It’s what we continue to do today.

Embracing the Brokenness

April 15, 2012 in Life, Living our Faith with 31 Appreciated Comments

Photo Credit: See-ming Lee (Creative Commons)

We’re all broken.

We all have weaknesses and struggles and insecurities. We all have flaws. We all deal with some kind of recurring sin, stronghold or mindset. We all have those areas in our lives that make us cringe. We struggle with relationships, struggle with how we see ourselves and struggle with how God sees us. We are passionate one day, and apathetic the next. We desire to serve God, and end up serving our flesh more.

We are broken individuals.
It’s part of our fallen nature.

We are intimately acquainted with our brokenness.

We don’t have to look far to discover how we’re flawed. We can pinpoint our weaknesses, list our our flaws and recall every mistake.

We just don’t like putting our flaws on display.

Breaking the Heart of God

April 12, 2012 in Living our Faith with 22 Appreciated Comments

Photo Credit: Radversion.com (Creative Commons)

We all sin.
It’s not a particularly new revelation.

We know our faults and flaws. We know where we fall short. We’re painfully aware of our areas of brokenness. We know when we choose our own selfish wants and desires over the needs of others. We’re intimate with the lust and envy and anger in our lives. We could easily point out what we need to work on, the ways in which we put God to the side and how we fail at pursuing Him with our whole heart.

And we know the consequences of those sins.

We know how sin separates us from God. How it makes us def to His voice. We know how it eats away at us, destroys our character and our reputation, and makes us less than ideal reflections of our Savior.

You don’t have to be following Christ long to know that sin leads to death.