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“The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.” (1 Timothy 1:5 NASB)
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All you need After our study of 1 Timothy 1:5, I was blessed by a number of links and notes. Here are a few that I’m sure will make you think and smile… Wayne, here’s the pop culture summary of 1 Timothy 1:5: Sparking creativity Pastor Wayne, love changes everything! It even opens creativity and builds teams. Consider this article by Justin Brady: [Note – below is my edited version. You can read the original in the May 21, 2013 Wall Street Journal.] I have observed many different strategies that leaders employ, hoping to spark creativity in the workplace. I’ve had discussions with the owners of local Ma & Pa shops and Fortune 500 executives. Some leaders inspired creativity, others didn’t. But the education or experience of their teams, the hiring of individuals known for their creativity, and the company’s size or its pay scale had nothing to do with it. The creative output of any company always comes out of leadership that exhibits one very basic principle with three facets. Creative environments aren’t planted, they are cultivated by leaders who: * Listen. Listening is much different from hearing. When someone is truly listening, they keep eye contact and they strain to find meaning. When you are listening, you discover insights that weren’t obvious before. In addition, your demeanor noticeably changes, making the person who is talking feel valued and thus more likely to be helpful – and creative. * Empathize. This is a giant problem today, not only in companies but in politics and even relationships. Empathizing takes work. People who truly empathize not only try to put themselves in the other person’s shoes, but they also make it a priority to find truth in their words. This shift of focus is dynamic, and unlocks explosive creativity. * Trust. Listening and empathizing are useless if you can’t trust another individual. Some ideas or concepts won’t make sense to anyone but the innovator. That’s what makes them innovators, they were capable of seeing a solution or connection no one else could. Any groundbreaking innovation is always poked and prodded when it comes out. Trusting is the final step of the creative process. I call the three facets above the LET principle. Only when a leader exhibits all of them is a team truly creative and successful. Teams guided this way will adapt quickly and accomplish much. They will correct problems, in most cases before half the team even knows there is a problem. – Justin Brady Let all that you do be done in love. (1 Corinthians 16:14 NASB) Help me love Wayne, C.S. Lewis recognized the daily value of and battle for love. Remember his letter to Sheldon Vanauken: “Pray for me to be made more charitable: we’re in the middle of a Faculty crisis which tempts me to hatred many times a day.” – C.S. Lewis letter to Sheldon Vanauken, printed in A Severe Mercy Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:8 NASB) In the home Wayne, thinking about the love series, this quote jumped out from something I’m reading. Though the author is likely a little too Roman-church oriented and not enough Christ-oriented, he nails the idea of fathers loving their family: Christian fatherhood demands more from the patriarch than is expected from any worldly leader because it demands all, the very giving of one’s life…Christ loved unto the laying down of his life for those that were given to Him. It is in this divine manner that the [Christian] must strive to fulfill his great God-given commission.” -G.C. Dilsaver, The Three Marks of Manhood
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. (Ephesians 5:1-2 NASB) Elevated thought Wayne, the sermon today elevated my thoughts on the love of Christ and the love we are to show one another. I never thought of Jesus’ enduring pain and death on the cross as an expression of tender love. It inspired me to take some quiet time to reflect and I wrote this: Tender love flowing down on Calvary’s cross Preparation I know that some of you who study along with me like to work through the background notes I craft for each series. You can download (Word.docx) the preparation materials for the series In The Name of Love HERE. |
