Building Others Up...
Do you know why dogs are so lovable?
They are always happy to see you,
They are always wagging their tails,
They are never mad at you,
They always make you feel like a million bucks!
Doesn't matter who you are,
What you've done,
What you've said,
How you feel,
The dog don't care,
The dog will love you no matter what.
Well, there's someone that loves us MORE than man's furry best friend.
Yup, that's Jesus!
And as we appreciate the love of our furry friend,
God's love is infinitely better!
The common thread between the two is they love and encourage unconditionally.
They always lift us up no matter how low we are.
And that is a model for how we should treat others.
To BUILD others up.
So...
How do you treat others when they are being DIFFICULT?
How about when they HURT you?
Betray you?
Wrong you?
Does building them up even cross your mind?
For us normal humans... no!
Well, good thing we have Paul to look at to model.
So here's HIS crazy scenario...
He's in Corinth,
Which is like the LA or New York of today,
Very hip, cutting edge, full of spirituality and art,
And a VERY wild crowd!
In Corinth, they had all sorts of craziness going on...
A culture of human sacrifices,
Where temples prostitutes were rampant in the thousands,
A culture that made hippies and free love look like tame nuns.
Yes, VERY crazy.
Ok, so Paul comes in and shares Jesus with them,
Converts a bunch of people,
And builds a church.
Paul teaches them the ways of Jesus and they do great while he is there,
But he has to eventually leave to plant another church.
And as time passed,
They started going sideways.
They were gossiping,
Backstabbing,
Suing each other,
Getting drunk during communion,
Discriminating against the poor,
Sexual immorality,
You name it,
They were doing it.
So this is where we get to learn from Paul...
If I were in his shoes,
I'd be like... "You're doing WHAT?!?!? Are you kidding me? I will throat punch you!".
But not Paul.
He kept his cool.
He didn't berate them,
He didn't cuss them out,
He didn't shame or guilt them.
However he still did correct them,
But not before he LOVED on them.
Not before he reminded them of the BIG PICTURE,
Jesus.
Not before he united them in love and remembering the big WHY,
Jesus.
Not before he ELEVATED them up to a higher version of themselves,
Not before he BUILT them UP.
Paul did it right.
He BUILT them UP with love.
He BUILT them UP with encouragement.
He BUILT them UP, being led by the Holy Spirit.
Paul found a beautiful balance between love, correction and encouragement.
"Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing."
Now let's apply this to our business...
Let's be real,
There are some crazy, bone-headed moves people make out there, right?
So what should we do?
When a colleague almost kills a deal and cost you time and money,
Or your admin can't keep up with your pace,
Or a client disrespects you over something trivial,
Here's what God wants us to do...
"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves."
What does that mean?
Let's put it this way...
God wouldn't say or think...
"I should have just done this myself."
"This is such a waste of time."
or "Didn't we go over this before?"
So we shouldn't either.
God would never guilt or shame us or be impatient.
So we shouldn't either.
God always BUILDS us up.
So we should seek to BUILD up others.
How we train people, correct them or delegate to them?
Do we do it in a way that BUILDS them up...
Or sets them up for failure?
Do we just walk into the room,
Do an admin dump and then walk away with little to no instruction?
And then...
Do we get frustrated when things don't get done the way we want?
I'm sure that's never happened to you, but for me...
Guilty as charged. X_X
The truth is...
It NEVER crossed my mind to think of them as more significant than me.
My thinking was...
I'm paying them so they are here to serve MY needs.
MY needs are more significant than theirs.
If I want to dump and go, I will!
Here's what I learned.
I don't have the right to have crappy training and expect excellent results... and get frustrated when it doesn't go my way.
I don't have the right to put undue pressure on my staff because I want to go at an insane rate and no one can keep up.
I don't have the right to stress everyone out for my own gain.
None of those things BUILD up others,
Instead it tears them down.
Tears down morale,
Tears down confidences,
Increases anxiety and stress.
However, these are common practices in the workplace,
So I simply invite you to evaluate your work habits and operation to see if it builds up your staff, team, clients and/or family?
Let us strive for a workplace that...
"...consider[s] how to stir up one another to love and good works"
So as you do business or family this week,
See the everyday opportunities to BUILD others up.
Because that's what God does with us,
Isn't it fair to pass it forward? ^_^
"Dear God,
Thank you for the way You always build me up.
Thank you for your unending patience,
And for never making me feel less than or ashamed.
Help me build others up like you build me up.
Help me have systems that set up others for success.
Help me have habits that create a lightness and ease even when things are going full throttle.
Lord I call upon your promise that your burden is light and your yolk is easy.
I declare your word as my new habit that I will consider others more significant than myself.
Help me re-posture my heart to please You.
Only You can change hearts.
Change mine.
In Jesus name, Amen."
Cheers to being a BUILDER of people (and businesses)!
