FITLY SPOKEN WORDS

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver”…….Proverbs 25:11

 As I go through my travels I run across people who are truly hurting.  Often times you can see the hurt written all over their face. However, many times the hurt is either hidden or covered up by expressions like, “Life is good,” when in effect it is just the opposite.

The phrase above stating that words need to be ‘fitly spoken’ refers to words of encouragement, support and affirmation.  People need to hear these types of words and when I find myself using words these to help other I often times inspire myself to continue the race of life.  It is then that I feel this is exactly what Christ wants me to do. Try these and you will start liking yourself and the world around you a lot better.

Listen Lord, Your Servant is Speaking‏

 I know some people struggle with prayer in general and some don’t even know how to pray.  You need to treat it as a simple conversation between you and the Lord. I am sure many of you have heard the prayer, “Speak Lord, your servant is liestening.  However, most of us think it means, “Listen Lord, your servant is speaking.”   The Lord must sometimes laugh at us but we are lucky as Jesus is merciful and unconditional in his love for us or otherwise we would all be in trouble.

I like to pray using the “PFTS” method:

P: Praise – Lord, I praise you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit for your splendor and greatness and will adore you always.

F: Forgiveness – Lord, forgive me for all my transgressions today and in my lifetime against you and my fellowman.

T: Thanksgiving – Thank you for all the gifts of my life as everything is a gift and I thank you. Please forgive me for my ingratitude as from time to time I get stupid.

S: Supplication – Lord, I know I’m always asking for something but I have no wine, no power, no hope or whatever just like at the wedding feast of Cana.

Please grant this request as this is not my will but your will.  Hope this helps a little as it helps me a lot.

Unconditional Love

The Greeks call it “agape love.”  It refers to the love God has for each and every one of us. We know it as “unconditional love.”  I refer to this term many times during my stewardship talks.

This is a magnificent idea that no matter who we are, or how many sins we have committed, or how we view ourselves, God love us as if there were no one else was in the world.  

Theologians tell us that if we were the only ones in existence, Jesus still would have died so that we might live eternally with Him and the Father.  Have a nice day knowing you are loved unconditionally.

Share Passion‏

When my father-in-law was the director of  The South Philly Boys Club he often mentioned that one of his employee’s would “live to eat, not eat to live .”  I believe he was saying that the gentlemen was living his life to the fullest.  I wonder sometimes do people really live their life to its fullest.  Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. said “As life is action and passion, it is required of man that he should share the passion and action of his time, at the peril of being not to have lived.”  Share your passion as I believe it’s lacking in our world today.

Steering The Talk To Fit The Audience‏

Many years ago when I was giving talks every night I would call home afterwards and my wife would ask, “How were you?”  I would answer back, “I was fine” however one particular night unknowingly I replied, “They were great.”  At that moment I realized it was the listeners that mattered and not my particular talk.  That process is called, Cybernetics. A Greek word meaning “steersman,” it is the process by which the speaker listens to the effect of his talk and then adjusts his continuing conversation to fit the needs of the situation. A simply example of  a mechanical cybernetic device is a home heating thermostat which turns off the heat when the house reaches a certain temperature. Thus the speaker listens to keep himself informed of the effects of their communication and then adjusts the speech accordingly.  An experienced speaker can “feel” the crowd and their reaction to the first couple of comments especially when there is humor involved.  I love all audiences as they can make it challenging and fun!

Understand vs. Understood‏

There is a belief that if you are not humble then you are heading for something which will humble you.  One key concept in getting along with the world around you is to let go of being right. This is often difficult in a world that preaches self esteem is critical to ones success but people today need to be understood now more then ever.  A prayer which helps me along the way is, “Lord help me to understand as opposed to being understood.” I believe all of us have a great need to be understood which is why this pray is effective and humbling.

How Do You Motivate Someone Else‏

In my travels people ask me how I motivate my sales people, or how do I motivate people in my organization? Its interesting question. I first learned about motivation during my senior year of high school playing football. We were losing 7-6 to our closest rival at half time.  The Coach gave us a real motivational talk, the kind that Joe Paterno would be proud of.  We kicked off to start the second half and the ball went into the end zone and the opposing team initially fumbled it but pick it up and ran 101 yards for a touchdown.  The final score was 35-6.  His motivational talk lasted about only four minutes until that adversity struck.   That is the fickle part of motivation.  Leaders can only create an environment for motivation.  It is up to each person to motivate themselves as motivation comes from within each individual.

Are Your Nets In Need of Repair

In these tough economic times we all need “life rafts” that we can go to in times of trouble.  If you recall the biblical story where Peter and the guys were out fishing all night and did not catch any fish leaving their nets empty.  Jesus met them near the shore and said, “Cast out your nets” but Peter responded, “We have been fishing all night and have caught nothing.” However, Peter listened and the rest of the story is well documented as they needed another boat to gather in all the fish. So when you feel that your net is empty, you need to meet Jesus half way and ask for his help……Jesus will never fail to fill your net.

Giving Up What You Didn’t Have Anyways

Control is an interesting topic I think about often.  People in management and leadership positions and now even our government are seeking all kinds of control.  I personally know a lot about it because as an executive of a major insurance company, control was a large part of my personality. However, one day I had an awakening in which I woke up in the middle of night and realized I never was in control but that God was.  WOW!!  From there, I started to delegate more control to my team, my family, my friends and then watched as they grew by leaps and  bounds.  My team was more productive and I experienced a more loving relationship from family and friends.  This would never happened if I stayed in control. By giving up control you find peace and joy in your life.

The Way I See It

There is a classic statement that says, “Where you sit is how you see the show.” I have thought long and hard about that statement and what it really means is we have a choice in how we love and view our life. There is no doubt that from time to time life can and will knock you down but it’s about  getting up and dusting yourself off that counts.  That kind of attitude helps in determing your future  success. 

Games are not always won by the best teams necessarily, they are won with the teams that have the best attitudes.  And although you cannot change your bad experiences in life you change the way you view them.  Rudyard Kipling said, “If you can meet with triumph and disaster treat those two imposters just the same.” It is all perception and the way you view your circumstances that counts.