Wisdom

 

I don’t know about you, but I pray for wisdom every day. I believe that God grants wisdom. But we also earn it, or gain it, through life experiences. Some of us are better than others at turning life experiences into wisdom.

What if we had wisdom much earlier in life? Imagine navigating friendships, choices, and mistakes with the perspective we gain over time. Less worried about fitting in, more focused on what truly matters. We might have stressed less over things that didn’t last and appreciated simple moments more. But maybe growing up is part of God’s plan, it is meant to be messy and uncertain, so we must earn that wisdom the hard way.

“Wisdom in your teens would be a lot less fun”

-       Taken from the Luke Bryan song – “Most People Are Good”

If we knew then, what we know now…

Grace

 

We’ve all made mistakes and we’ll all make some more. The line that separates the best of us from the worst of us is a narrow one.

Your brother, sister, coworker, spouse, child, and friend all would like me to remind you that they each need grace. Just like you need forgiveness, so do they. There comes a time in every relationship when it’s damaging to seek justice, when settling the score only stirs the fire. There comes a time when the best thing you can do is accept your brother and offer them the same grace you’ve been given.

 

Portions of this MMM have been chosen from The Great House of God

You don’t have to always be right!

It’s okay to be wrong, everyone is, and it is important to admit it when we are.  More important is the need for leaders to allow those who work for them to admit their mistakes.  Good leaders give people permission to be wrong.  Most people don't admit their mistakes because of fear. They're afraid they won't be forgiven¹.  Good leaders let their followers know that it's okay.  Great leaders even share their own stories of failure.  It shows that they care and allows them to be human.  This permission to be wrong leads to stronger relationships between leaders and followers.  It leads to humility and transparency. 

There are few guarantees in life, making mistakes is one of them.  Allow yourself to be wrong and admit it.  More importantly, allow those around you to be wrong and admit it.

¹ Parsley, Brian, Admit You’re Wrong (brianparsley.com)

Guilt

Guilt, don’t let it destroy you. Here is another tidbit from the Tyler Perry book “Higher Is Waiting”.

Guilt can destroy us.  We all make mistakes.  We’ve all fallen short.  At some point, we’ve all disappointed someone, especially ourselves.  Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do about it.  These events have already happened: they’re in the past.  Instead of facing backward, beating yourself up, how are you putting your energy into making sure it doesn’t happen again?  How about facing forward?  And while you’re at it, how about helping to heal anyone you may have hurt while you were turned in the wrong direction?

If you allow guilt to consume you, it will win.  You can’t let guilt take over your thoughts.  If you do, you’ll enter into a downward spiral that will keep you looking in the wrong direction.

Insanity

Sometimes we think that change will drive us crazy.  Actually, we often think the pain to change is greater than the pain to stay the same, but we need change to keep us from going insane.  Without change it is far too easy to fall into a rut and continuously repeat our mistakes.  Enjoy the following definitions and embrace the change to stay sane!

Webster’s Definition:

Insanity; noun

• the condition of being insane; a derangement of the mind.
• a foolish or senseless action, policy, statement,etc.

Einstein’s Definition:

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result.”

Action

I have written before about the importance of taking action.  Nothing good happens unless an initial step of action occurs.  Action, initiation, implementation, these are the starters of all things good.  They lay the foundation for success.  Good things can be talked about and theorized on at great length.  We can plan and prepare forever.  It takes action and movement for good concepts to be turned into reality, and reality into success.  Consider this quote from the very successful Conrad Hilton.

Success seems to be connected with action.
Successful people keep moving. They make
mistakes but they never quit.
--Conrad Hilton

Don’t overlook the part of the quote referring to mistakes.  Successful people make mistakes.  They cannot be avoided and are in fact part of the process of success.  Do not let the fear of mistakes keep you from taking action!

Go take some action!  Have a blessed week.