Category: Personal Growth

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Treadmill Part 2

In my last post I made the comparison of running on a treadmill and running outside on a road. Both are beneficial, but they are much different. I compared these to our spiritual journey, basically saying that if we only run on a treadmill we never get the experience of running on a road with all its challenges.

I think there are great benefits to running on a treadmill. You can practice your running technique, you can keep track of you heart rate and have your time and exact mileage right in front of you. You can simulate hills and increase or decrease your speed with a push of a button.

This is just like going to church, doing a Bible Study, or taking a Bible class. We can learn the right way to live, we can learn about Jesus and the character of God. You can gain understanding of how to handle money, relationships, marriage, parenting, possessions, work and our relationship with Christ.

But what if you never go out and put this knowledge into practice? What if you always stay in your safe environment of church and just “learn more”. The danger here is that you start to think that you are better than the people out on the road. That the “world” out there is no good and not worth your efforts. That we should not be a part of the world, or get ourselves dirtied by the road. We can begin to become a little prideful and arrogant. We begin to feel safe and secure in our controlled environment.

God does not want us to live in a safe controlled environment. He is not a safe God, but He is a good God.

I believe God wants us to put what we know into action. He wants us to run in some road races, to climb some big hills and run into the wind. He wants us to run in cold weather and in the heat of the day. God wants us to get out there and make a difference. I don’t know what that looks like for you. Maybe its forgiving someone and reconciling a broken relationship. Maybe its going on a mission trip to another country. Maybe its helping and elderly person clean their house. Maybe its getting on a serving team at your church. How about increasing your giving to your church or helping out a family in need financially. It could be taking the time to start meeting with someone to mentor them and encourage them in their struggles. Our helping a single mom with diapers, food, fixing her car etc.

Start asking God how you can get out and do some mileage on the open road. Who can you reach out to and show the love of Christ too in a tangible way? When you do that you will grow by leaps and bounds. You will feel more energized and excited about making a difference. You will have some stories to share with other people. You become a road warrior.

Are you a treadmill warrior or a road warrior? I want to be a road warrior.

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Road Work

As some of you know, I like to run. I started last year and have been running in some local 5K’s. I am running in one this weekend in New Philadelphia. Most of the training I have been doing is running on the roads around my house. Usually between 2-5 miles at a time.

On Monday night I was working late, so I decided to run on the treadmill at work. As I started running I soon was reminded how different it is to run on a treadmill versus running outside along a road. I was in a nice air conditioned room with a big screen TV and a fan. I had a machine keeping my pace and elevation. The treadmill gave a little cushion as I ran.

When I am running outside, I have the heat and the wind to deal with. I have tar and road apples to dodge. I have hills and slopes and potholes. Running outside on a road is much different than running inside on a treadmill.

As I was thinking about all this it hit me that our spiritual life is much that way as well. If all we ever do is run on the treadmill spiritually, we never experience all that God has for us. Our treadmill can be going to church, going to Bible study or small group, even our personal devotions. All of those are helpful and good, just like running on a treadmill is helpful and good.

However, when you get out on the road and put your faith into action things are different. It gets a little messy, you have some unexpected challenges. You get stretched and uncomfortable. There are hills to climb, sometimes the wind is in your face and sometimes it is at your back. When you put what you have learned into action incredible things happen.

I believe God wants all people that consider themselves to be followers of Jesus Christ to get out and run. Be the person that makes a difference in someones life, by taking the time to do something. If each of us would do some road work every week, we could change our communities and our world.

Keep running on your treadmill, but get outside and run as well.

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Encouragement

I don’t know about you, but I need encouragement. This week I had three different people stop and take the time to thank me for what I do and encourage me to keep doing what I am doing. A few words of encouragement will last a long time. For me it is like drinking a Red Bull. It’s kind of like putting some drops of water into someone else’s bucket. You never know if their bucket is nearly empty or nearly full. My guess is that most people’s bucket is on the low side and could use some of your drops of encouragement.

Nearly 75% of what people hear is negative. That can wear you down and take a lot of water out of your bucket.

The word encourage means to put courage into. To inspire with courage, spirit, or hope; heartening; to spur on; stimulate, to give help or patronage to: foster.

There are two kinds of encouraging that we can do. The first is impulsive encouragement. It is unplanned, impromptu or spur of the moment. You saw an opportunity and you took advantage. This type of encouragement is important, but often we are too busy to notice these opportunities to encourage someone. We have our own issues and problems and we need our own encouragement and miss those chances to encourage someone.

The second is intentional encouragement. This type of encouragement is planned. You are actively looking for ways to encourage others. You include encouragement in your planning, by listing out names of people that you can encourage in the coming week. You take the time to write a person note, make a phone call or stop by their office. Maybe it is planning a date with your wife or maybe your daughter. This takes a lot of focus and determination to be an intentional encourager.

Intentional encourager’s have the ability to compel others into action, to inspire them to even higher accomplishments. If you have a relationship that is struggling, maybe you need to be more intentional with your encouragement. Maybe you need to pour some of your water into their bucket. It can be as simple as kind words, taking the time to notice something about them. Writing a note letting them know some specific things you appreciate about them.

“A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” Proverbs 11:25 How generous are you with your encouragement? If you are in need of refreshment, maybe you need to refresh someone else first.

An encourager is a helper, someone who walks alongside us to keep us on the road to Christ. Encourager’s minister in a variety of ways. They listen. They affirm our contributions. They put an arm around us. They smile. They challenge and stretch us. They even confront us when necessary.

Take a moment and read Hebrews Chapter 10:23-25.

Who can you encourage today? This week?

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Accountability

For a number of years I met with a group of guys in an accountability group. We met every other week for breakfast. We would talk, laugh, pray and study a book. We also would ask each other a set of questions. My group is currently not meeting, but we are looking to get back together later this year.

Accountability is something that is important but no one likes. For me, if I want to get something done or accomplish a goal I need accountability. Someone to ask me how I am doing in that area. If I know I am going to get asked about it, I will be sure to be working on it. It is sad that most of us need this, but that is reality. When we live secretly, we create secret lives. This usually leads to things that are not healthy for us spiritually, emotionally or physically. When we live in secret, darkness tends to creep in. Accountability brings light to the dark areas of our lives.

Where do you need some accountability? Maybe in your finances, your Internet usage, your time with your family, your time with God, your exercise or diet?

Here are the questions that we have been using. You can create your own or use a variation of these.

Chuck Swindoll’s Pastoral Accountability Questions:

1. Have you been with a woman anywhere this past week that might be seen as compromising?

2. Have any of your financial dealings lacked integrity?

3. Have you exposed yourself to any sexually explicit material?

4. Have you spent adequate time in Bible study and prayer?

5. Have you given priority time to your family?

6. Have you fulfilled the mandates of your calling?

7. Have you just lied to me?

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Make it Personal

I recently read about a spiritual exercise that I thought I would do myself. After doing it I was humbled and reminded what it really means to love people. We sometimes just read Scripture and don’t make it personal. I would encourage you to read this with your name instead of mine. Then ask yourself does any of this describe me? Do I love other people this way? Would anyone in your life say this about you?

Chad is patient, Chad is kind. He does not envy, he does not boast, he is not proud. Chad is not rude, he is not self-seeking, he is not easily angered, Chad keeps no record of wrongs, Chad does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Chad always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

I don’t know about you, but that was a wake up call for me. That is what I want people to say about me when I am gone. What can you start doing today to make some of that true about you in your relationships?

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A look Back and Forward

Think about yourself a year ago. Go back to 2008 and think about what you were like, who you were hanging out with, what you were doing, what weren’t you doing? Think about the type of person you were, the relationships you had, the work you were doing the way you were parenting, the quality of your relationships, the health of your marriage.

Now think about where you are today. Have you changed? Are you a different person? Are you pretty much the same? Are you doing worse? Deeper in debt? Are you closer to God? Farther from God?

Sometimes it helps to have a bigger perspective on your life. When you step back and look at the bigger picture of your life story, it helps to see things a little more clearly.

Now start thinking about next year, 2010. Where do you want to be? What are some things you can start doing today to become the person you want to be? Maybe it is reconciling a relationship, or maybe improving your financial condition. Maybe its going to school or having a different job. Maybe its getting closer to God and exploring the Bible. Maybe its finding a church that you can relate to. Maybe its developing some friendships. Maybe its becoming a better parent, maybe a better husband or a better wife or a better son or daughter.

How will you be different a year from now? Will people notice you have changed for the better or will they say you are the same old person as last year?

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Cleaning out the Garage

On Thursday my wife and I cleaned out our garage, in preparation for a garage sale next week. The first thing we did was take everything out of the garage. We took everything out into our driveway, we then took everything off the shelves and put it on the floor. Next we began to clean the shelves and then each item that was on the shelf. We then used a vacuum cleaner on the corners of the garage and the walls throughout the garage and then scrubbed the floor.

One of my jobs was to clean every item we took out of the garage. We then had to make the decision about what items we wanted to put back in the garage. We ended up throwing some things out. Things that were broken or of no use to us. Other things we put on a pile to sell.

This was a long and dirty process and it made us tired. However it was needed in order to bring order and organization to our garage. It also gave us a sense of satisfaction that we had completed this task and it made more room for the important stuff.

You may be in need of some intense emotional housecleaning as well. The attic, the basement, a closet and the garage of your heart may be crammed with clutter from the past. You may be overflowing with emotional debris.

Often times we don’t notice our mess for years. We accumulate stuff and put it in a corner. We accumulate emotional garbage during our childhood and have added to it every year as we grow older. When you get married, you tend to combine your junk. This can lead to all kinds of relational problems.

If you don’t have regular times of cleaning house, this stuff gets out of control. We find it hard to move around, because there is so much clutter. This can be a big daunting task to take everything out and either clean it up, throw it out or put it back in it right place. However, if you don’t start to do this, it only gets worse.

Sometimes we need some help getting things cleaned up. Getting wise counsel, meeting with a mentor or a coach, can be a huge help. Asking God to help is vital, He will take all our junk, just like the garbage man took ours.

So what room in your heart needs cleaned out? What junk do you need to throw out? What needs to be cleaned and scrubbed? Start today, you will be glad you did. What a great feeling it is to have a clean garage.

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Understanding People

How well do you understand people? Why do people do the things they do? To understand people we must first realize that everyone is at a different place in life. Everyone has unique experiences, personality and abilities. God created each of us uniquely. That is why sometimes it is difficult to understand others, especially if they think, act and believe differently than we do.

To understand someone you first must be willing to listen to them and get to know them. It takes time to get to know someone, we can sometimes jump to conclusions about people based on a brief encounter with them. That is a dangerous thing to do. We can write someone off or judge someone before we begin to understand them.

I heard this story about a man and his three children. They were riding on the subway and the kids were being unruly. They were out of their seats, loud and pretty annoying. The father sat in his seat, just starring out the window. The people around the man and kids looked at each other with that look of annoyance. Finally one man decided to approach the father. He said “excuse me sir, but could you please manage your kids, they are out of control”. The man turned to him and said “I am so sorry, they just lost their mother. We are on our way home from the hospital. I guess they don’t know how to handle this and I don’t either.”

Immediately every one’s attitude changed. They now understood what was happening and it changed how they viewed the man, and the children. How often do we do that? We get irritated with someone and don’t know what they are going through. We get angry at the guy that cuts us off, but don’t know what is going on in his life. We get irritated at the co-worker that is late to work, but don’t know what she is going through at home. We don’t know the life the other person has lived, the hardships they have experienced, the grief they have been through, the pain they are in right now.

Remember that we all have different backgrounds, families, experiences and personalities. All of those things affect how we act, what we say and how we live. We all have lies we believe that influence the things we do. Once we understand that in others we can be more effective in helping them.

When we seek to understand people, it is much easier to be patient, forgiving and kind. Once you understand the person better then you can begin to speak truth to them in a loving way.

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Why Wait?

What are you going to do this week to change and grow? Where do you need to change and grow? In what area of your life are you struggling? How are you dealing with the hard things in your life? Who do you need to spend more time with? Less time with? What do you need to say no too? When will you start making some changes? Do you even need to make any changes?

This week you will continue on the journey, the adventure called your life. It can be filled with the same old stuff, or it could be filled with something unexpected. We don’t know what the upcoming week will hold. Or the next year for that matter. We cannot control what happens around us, and sometimes even what happens too us. However we can control how we respond, how we prepare, what we say and what we do.

It amazes me how many people wait until tragedy strikes or hardship hits before they begin to make changes. Unless the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of change we tend to not change. We wait until we have a health problem before we change the way we care for our bodies. We wait until a relationship is damaged before we make relational changes and start working on it. We wait until a financial crisis hits before we change our spending. We stuff our emotions until we explode. We avoid conflict until it gets so big it blows up in our face.

Start making the changes you need to make before the pain intensifies. It is never too late to make changes in your life. Ask God to help you discover the areas you need to work on. Go get help, seek counsel, read a book, listen to a CD, go to a seminar, spend more time with God, read your Bible, go on a fast, go on a spiritual retreat, work on a life plan, set some goals, change your calendar, add some things to your calendar, delete some things from your calendar, say no, say I don’t know, admit you need help. Do something this week, don’t wait. Start small and keep building on it. A year from now you can look back and see the progress you have made. You can do it.

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PDA

Here are some insights from Mark Sanborn on leadership. Mark was a speaker at the Maximum Impact Simulcast last Friday. He has a new book out called “Encore Effect”.

What if you were so good at your work, such an asset to your company (or family), such a remarkable leader that your boss (or spouse) or board of directors would do almost anything not to lose you to a competitor.

PDA stands for Performance Development Agenda. He challenged us to think two levels up instead of just one. Try to think about being a more remarkable performer, thinking two levels up. Be a more remarkable person, understanding who we are is critical. Help others become more remarkable, help others surpass themselves.

Mark said that both passion and process are needed for success. Passion is not enough, you need a process. This is the process he described:

  • Prepare – This is where remarkable performances always begin. You prepare for what you love. How are you preparing for your performance at work and life?
  • Practice – It won’t make you perfect, but it will always make you better. Learn to summarize critical activities and learn essential skills. Ten thousand hours of practice leads to greatness. Some critical activities of leadership include persuading, vision-casting, coaching, communicating and executing. Are you practicing your critical activities and skills?
  • Perform – This is where preparation and practice payoff. Great performers move people to act, think, feel good and laugh.
  • Pitfalls – Avoid them when you can and be prepared to handle them when you can’t. Most pitfalls can be avoided. Remarkable is not perfection, it is being authentic and real in the midst of pitfalls.
  • Polish – Good is never good enough, keep polishing and improving every aspect of what you do, so that your next performance is even more remarkable than your last.

School is never out for the encore performer. Passion is the fuel for remarkable performances.