2022-04-27
Proverbs 11:3 NIV
Jesus said, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ (Matthew 19:19 NIVUK). But in order to love yourself, you must first be able to respect yourself. And self-respect is based on personal integrity.
Author Ted Engstrom tells the story of a high school basketball team in his book called Integrity. The team had been having a great season, winning 21 games and losing only five. In the final, they had a dramatic victory, coming from behind to win the game. But later they realised that one of the players, who had played for just 45 seconds at the end of a single match, was actually ineligible to compete. The team was way ahead in that particular game, so the player couldn’t really have affected the outcome, but their coach, Cleveland Stroud, reported the mistake anyway and surrendered the trophy they’d won at the final.
Stroud had this to say: ‘We didn’t know he was ineligible at the time; we didn’t know it until a few weeks ago. Some people have said we should have just kept quiet about it, that it was just forty-five seconds and the player wasn’t an impact player. But you’ve got to do what’s honest and right and what the rules say. I told my team that people forget the scores of basketball games; they don’t ever forget what you’re made of.’
Every word and action will either add to or take away from our character, so it’s important that we choose the honesty route. That’s what the Bible means when it says, ‘The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.’ So today, strive for honesty and integrity in everything you do.
Dan 5-7; Matt 2:13-23; Ps 7:10-17; Pro 10:17-18
Proverbs 11:3 NIV
Jesus said, “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Mt 19:19 NIV). But in order to love yourself, you must first be able to respect yourself. And self-respect is based on personal integrity.
Author Ted Engstrom tells the following story in his book called Integrity: “For Coach Cleveland Stroud and the Bulldogs of Rockdale County High School [Conyers, Georgia], it was their championship season: twenty-one wins and five losses on the way to the Georgia Boys Basketball Tournament last March, then a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the state finals. But now the new glass trophy case outside the high school gymnasium is bare. Earlier this month the Georgia High School Association deprived Rockdale County of the championship after school officials said that a player who was scholastically ineligible had played forty-five seconds in the first of the school’s five postseason games. ‘We didn’t know he was ineligible at the time; we didn’t know it until a few weeks ago,’ Coach Stroud said. ‘Some people have said we should have just kept quiet about it, that it was just forty-five seconds and the player wasn’t an impact player. But you’ve got to do what’s honest and right and what the rules say. I told my team that people forget the scores of basketball games; they don’t ever forget what you’re made of.'”
Every honest or dishonest word and action either adds to or takes away from your character. That’s what the Bible means when it says, “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.” So today, strive for integrity in all your dealings.
Soul food: Dan 5-7; Matt 2:13-23; Ps 7:10-17; Pro 10:17-18
2022-04-26
Psalm 15:5 NLV
Ons lees in die Bybel: ‘As jy aanhou om vir iemand te sê hoe hy moet lewe, maar hy bly hardkoppig, dan sal dit gou sleg gaan met hom, en niemand sal hom kan help nie’ (Spreuke 29:1 ABA). Koning Salomo is bekend daarvoor dat hy die wysste man is wat nog ooit gelewe het. Hy het hierdie woorde geskryf, maar hartseer genoeg nie self daaraan gehoor gegee nie en tot ‘n val gekom. As dit met Salomo kon gebeur, is niemand van ons immuun daarteen nie!
Karakter het deesdae ‘n deurslaggewende saak geword, omdat soveel politici, sakelui en godsdienstige leiers in die openbaar tot ‘n val kom. Jy tree nie in ‘n vakuum as leier op nie. Jy beïnvloed baie mense en wanneer jy val, voel hulle die reperkussies daarvan.
Hoe kan jy dus daarteen waak om nie te val nie? Deur nie gawes bo karakter te stel nie. Ons het deesdae ‘n ongesonde tendens om iemand se gawes te vier en te beloon en hulle karakter oor te sien; beide moet egter ontwikkel word. Karakter is die somtotaal van jou daaglikse gewoontes.
Dawid gee ons agt karaktereienskappe in Psalm 15 om voor uit te kyk in ‘n leier wat ons respek waardig is: 1) Hulle het integriteit. 2) Hulle neem nie deel aan skinderpraatjies nie. 3) Hulle maak nie ander seer nie. 4) Hulle wys verkeerde dinge uit. 5) Hulle eer diegene wat in die waarheid wandel. 6) Hulle kom hulle beloftes na, selfs wanneer dit hulle persoonlik kos. 7) Hulle is nie ten koste van ander gierig vir wins nie. 8) Hulle is sterk en stabiel. Dawid sluit sy psalm af deur te sê dat: ‘Só ‘n mens sal vir altyd stewig staan.’ Dis hoe jy nie tot ‘n val kom nie!
Sielskos: Dan 3-4; Matt 2:1-12; Ps 7:1-9; Spr 10:16
Psalm 15:5 NIV
In The Message paraphrase we read, ‘For people who hate discipline and only get more stubborn, there’ll come a day when life tumbles in and they break, but by then it’ll be too late to help them”‘ (Proverbs 29:1 MSG). King Solomon was said to be the wisest man who ever lived. He wrote these words, but sadly he didn’t live by them, so he ‘crashed and burned’. And if it could happen to Solomon, it could happen to any of us. So how can we guard against falling?
We need to avoid favouring gifts and skills above character. There’s often a tendency to celebrate and reward someone’s gift and overlook their character; but both must be developed, not just the gifts and skills part.
In Psalm 15, David gives us eight traits to look for in a leader worthy of respect: 1) They have integrity. 2) They don’t take part in gossip. 3) They don’t harm others. 4) They speak up against wrong. 5) They honour those who walk in the truth. 6) They keep their promise, even at personal cost. 7) They’re not greedy to profit at the expense of others. 8) They’re strong and stable. David concludes his psalm by saying those who do these things ‘will never be shaken’.
Even if we’re not leaders, we should pay attention to this list, because every one of those traits is worth developing, whatever our role in life. And by working on these things, we’ll have some of the best protection from falling. We also need to stay close to God and learn to recognise His voice by talking and listening to Him every day and getting into His Word regularly. That way, we’ll have the best guidance system to help us avoid falls that could take us down.
Dan 3-4; Matt 2:1-12; Ps 7:1-9; Pro 10:16
Psalm 15:5 NIV
In the Bible we read, “For people who hate discipline and only get more stubborn, there’ll come a day when life tumbles in and they break, but by then it’ll be too late to help them” (Proverbs 29:1 MSG). King Solomon was reputed to be the wisest man who ever lived. He wrote these words, but sadly he didn’t live by them, so he “crashed and burned.” And if it could happen to Solomon, none of us is immune!
Character has become a crucial issue today because so many political, business, and religious leaders have fallen so publicly. As a leader, you don’t operate in a vacuum. You influence many others, and when you fall, they feel the repercussions. When a big oak tree falls, it takes the little trees with it.
So how can you guard against falling? By not favouring gifts over character. Today we have an unhealthy tendency to celebrate and reward someone’s gift and overlook their character; both must be developed. Character is the sum total of your daily habits.
In Psalm 15, David gives us eight traits to look for in a leader worthy of respect: (1) They have integrity. (2) They don’t take part in gossip. (3) They don’t harm others. (4) They speak up against wrong. (5) They honor those who walk in the truth. (6) They keep their promise, even at personal cost. (7) They’re not greedy to profit at the expense of others. (8) They’re strong and stable. David concludes his psalm by saying those who do these things “will never be shaken.”
That’s how you keep from falling!
Soul food: Dan 3-4; Matt 2:1-12; Ps 7:1-9; Pro 10:16
