perspective is an important thing to know and to have. i love reading but one of the things i do in reading a non-fictional book is to find from what perspective the author comes. if he is a calvinist i know he'll come from one perspective, if he is an armenian he will come from another one. now that doesn't mean i won't read the book it just means i understand better where the writer is coming from.
now in reading the book of philippians in the bible it really is important to know that the writer paul was in prison. it is a positive book written by a man in a negative situation. and that fact about this man gives a whole different perspective on how he views life.
now one such perspective is he was a man who was grateful for the good in people. and he chose to remember the best in them and then forget the rest. if we learn that our relationships will change.
now that does not mean that you deny the hurts you've had or that you excuse the weaknesses in other people. no, that's not healthy psychologically. but to focus on the good and choose to emphasize the strengths is a tremendous way to live.
he also appreciated people's loyalty. philippians 1.5 (ncv) i thank GOD for the help you gave me while i preached the good news—help you gave from the first day you believed until now.
who has been loyal to you? maybe somebody at work, a friend, a husband or wife. maybe they didn't do anything really spectacular, but time and time again, when they had every opportunity to walk out on you, they didn't. they hung in there.
when you were going through the bankruptcy, the crisis at work, the change in careers, when you were just being a jerk – they stayed with you. you ought to appreciate that! they haven't left and they've had plenty of good reasons.
paul would say you've got to focus on their strengths and not their weaknesses. with some people it takes a lot of creativity. but you can find something good in everybody.
just some thoughts from the front porch.
No comments:
Post a Comment