We Were Made to Be Courageous

Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! What do you say? Let’s create a masterpiece today!

 

I am pursuing a certification in Servant Leadership from eCornell. The class I am currently taking is titled, “Courage, Humility, and Compassion.” I want to share a few excerpts from the e-book we are reading. It is titled Building Leadership Character, and it was written by Amy Newman.

 

“As with trust, courage is demonstrated in any job and in small moves – less typically by war heroes or people running into a burning house to save a cat. An employee demonstrates courage by refusing to work overtime to attend a family event. A manager demonstrates courage by speaking out against an unfair policy. A client demonstrates courage by questioning an invoice because the product is defective.”

 

“In his book Moral Courage, Rushworth Ridder identifies three elements of moral courage: “a commitment to moral principles, an awareness of the danger involved in supporting those principles, and a willing endurance of that danger.””

 

“To encourage means to fill with courage, spirit, or confidence. We get discouraged when we’re deprived of these qualities.”

 

I am going to focus on the 1^st and 3^rd excerpt – I just shared the 2^nd one so we would all have a definition and understanding of what is meant by moral courage.

 

My perspective was greatly shifted when I read, “An employee demonstrates courage by refusing to work overtime to attend a family event.” I had never looked at courage that way however it makes sense to me. A person is taking a stand for something that is important to them. Have you ever been there? Me too! My only question this morning is this; are we doing it consistently? Are we honoring our own spirit or are there times when we are compromising it?

 

Look, I get it. Each person must determine for themselves if they have a “willing endurance of that danger” or, to say it another way, that whatever the consequences might be, they are worth it. Where are the lines drawn in our lives? Each will decide. If you think about it, there is a price to be paid either way. We can either rise, be courageous, and endure whatever may come as a result, or we can compromise our moral principles and feel the ceaseless crying out of our own spirit. Both are painful, however I have found that when I honor my principles, regardless of the ramifications of those choices, I have a deep, abiding peace in my spirit. To me, that is priceless.

 

When you look at the definition of encourage and then to understand that we get discouraged when we’re deprived of being filled with courage, spirit, or confidence, it makes my heart hurt. There are a whole lot of precious souls that are discouraged. What role will you and I play in their lives? Will we ignore them? Will we care? Are we brave enough to pray for eyes to see, ears to heart, a heart to care, and then to be the one to fill them with courage, spirit, or confidence? Let’s be the person we need when we feel discouraged – and we all do sometimes. Yes, this will be a courageous act however how does the risk involved compare to possibly setting a soul free to become all they were created to be. Maybe they just needed one person to stand up for them, to believe in them, to fill them with courage, spirit, or confidence. Maybe what they needed was you!

 

I want to share two quotes that have always inspired me. I pray that I will be the courageous man, husband, father, leader, and friend that God created me to be and that those that I am blessed to have in my life need me to be.

 

“When a brave man [person] takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.” - Billy Graham

 

“Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other.” - Mark Twain

 

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

 

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious family, and please stay well!

 

Kev

Do You Need Help?

Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new opportunity, the 292^nd day of 2024, has arrived! With grateful hearts and intentionality, let’s cherish and honor this great gift and choose to live it fully – pursuing our purposes, striving to fulfill our potential, and loving, caring for, and serving others!

 

Last Saturday was Homecoming at the institution where I have the honor and privilege of serving. One of my responsibilities for this day, along with my Little Brother, was to put 3,500 shakers in the stands for the game that evening. As we were putting the shakers out, I suddenly heard this voice say, “Do you guys need some help?” I immediately said, “Yes, that would be great. Thank you.” The young man walked up, we shook hands and introduced ourselves, he grabbed some shakers and then got to work. And then we started talking. I learned so much about his life journey, his family, his goals, etc. It was awesome! But here is the key thing; he was a student coach for the team we were playing that evening. Yes, you read that right; a member of the staff for the team we were playing that night in a football game was helping me and my Little put shakers in the stands for our fans. Kind, caring, selfless…yes, yes and YES!!

 

As I sit here and type this, I am still amazed. It was so simple and yet so very profound. Why do we tend to make life complicated when it is all very simple? As Ross, the young man, stated, “it looked like a big job for just two people so I thought I would help.” Simple as that! It wasn’t about games or teams, it was about one very thoughtful young man seeing outside of himself, seeing a need, and offering to help meet that need. What if we all lived like that, every day?

 

This, my Friends, is my hope, encouragement, and challenge for each one of us this Friday; that we would have eyes to see and ears to hear outside of ourselves, hearts to care, and hands and feet willing to be moved to help lighten the burden of another, whatever it might be.

 

A scripture and a quote for all of us to wrap up this Happy Friday:

 

Philippians 2: 3 - 4

3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

 

“Do all the good you can,

By all the means you can,

In all the ways you can,

In all the places you can,

At all the times you can,

To all the people you can,

As long as you can.”

― John Wesley

 

Please don’t hesitate to contact me at any time if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

 

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious family, and please stay well!

 

Kev

Life or Death?

Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama!

We started a new sermon series at church last weekend titled, “The Power of the Mouth.” This is going to be such a great series! This Happy Friday is going to be short, sweet, and hopefully give you all a different perspective.

Pastor Steve shared Proverbs 18:21:

21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

If you have been in or around church, you have probably read or heard this scripture. But then Pastor Steve said something like this; “Are the words you are speaking the death of joy for others? The death of your marriage? The death of your child’s dream?” Whoa! That hit different.

So here we are, Friends. What are our words doing? If we take an audit of our words, are they:

·        Bringing life or death to the joy in others?

·        Bringing life or death to our marriages and significant relationships?

·        Bringing life or death to our children’s dreams?

And I can’t help but focus in on that last part; “and those who love it will eat its fruit.” What do you think that means? A Google search says it could mean to have respect for the power of the tongue or it could be a warning against talking too much. I don’t know, something tells me it means something different. I think it has to do with eating the fruit of bringing life to the joy in others (we are in more joyful environments), eating the fruit of bringing life to our marriages and significant relationships (we have positive, healthy relationships), and bringing life to our children’s dreams (we have children who are healthy, happy, and pursuing the greatness that is within them)…or we will eat a different fruit. Ultimately, that will be up to us by the words we CHOOSE to speak!

I don’t know about y’all but when I look at it that way…Wow! Just, Wow! I can read the scripture, and I go, “Oh yeah, life or death. Cool, I get it.” But I don’t get it!!! When it is brought up in terms of killing the joy in another, killing my marriage, or killing my kids’ dreams, well, that makes my heart hurt. That makes me want to be a better man, husband, father, leader, and friend. How about you?

I am going to close with a few quotes for you all to thoughtfully consider:

"Be mindful when it comes to your words. A string of some that don't mean much to you, may stick with someone else for a lifetime." – Rachel Wolchin 

"Be careful with your words. Once they are said, they can be only forgiven, not forgotten."

- Unknown 

"Words are seeds that do more than blow around. They land in our hearts and not the ground. Be careful what you plant and careful what you say. You might have to eat what you planted one day." – Unknown 

“Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.” - Yehuda Berg 

“Words are the most powerful thing in the universe...Words are containers. They contain faith, or fear, and they produce after their kind.” - Charles Capps

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious family, and please stay well!

Kev 

Who Are We Eating With?

Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama!

This week we are going straight back to the foundation; What Will Your Influence Be…?

This past Sunday we were wrapping up the sermon series titled, re: Pete at church. The main point Pastor Steve was striving to make on Sunday is that you and I are called and created to be influencers. So why is the guy who writes, “What Will Your Influence Be…?” at the end of all Tweets and Facebook posts all fired up about this? Because sometimes we all forget how significant this calling is on our lives, including me. Plain and simple, as Pastor Steve said, “You have been called to influence the world you live in.”

I want to share a scripture with you all this morning:

Galatians 2:12-13

12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

Did you catch it? Before certain men arrived, he used to eat with the Gentiles. When they arrived, he drew back and separated himself because he was afraid of them. Others followed him in his hypocrisy.

Right about now, you might be thinking, “Kev, what in the heck are you talking about? Gentiles? Circumcision group? Hypocrisy?” So, let me ask the question another way; Who are we eating with?

Are we eating with people that don’t look like us?

Are we eating with people who are not where we are from?

Are we eating with people who have a different political view?

Are we eating with people who live a different lifestyle than us?

You get the point. So, the question comes at us again; What Will Your Influence Be...? You and I are going to influence every single person in our spheres of influence. Does our influence point others to Jesus? Does our influence encourage them to pursue their purpose? Does our influence empower and equip them to fulfill their potential? Are we loving, caring for, and serving every precious soul that we cross paths with every day?

Friends let’s be mindful that everything we say and do matters. There are no insignificant moments, conversations, or people. It all matters! Let’s commit to being intentional, positive, and let’s maximize our influence for good every day. As Pastor Steve rhetorically asked last Sunday, “Who breaks the cycle?” Who will lead with character? I sincerely hope and pray it will be you and I, Friends.

What Will Your Influence Be…?

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, cherish your precious family, and please stay well!

Kev