Question: Are you struggling with a bad habit?
Question: Have you let yourself go?
Question: What do you need to change for the better?
We all have "stuff" we are either working on or need to work on. When it comes to bad habits, either at home, work, in private or in public...EVERYONE has "stuff" they need to improve on.
How about our work for the Lord? How's that going? Are you on top of your game? Are you seeing the results you want to see?
Perhaps we need to step back from what we're doing and take a long look at it. After a long look...step back up and make some changes for the GOOD.
Changes to the good...
1. Avoid waiting till the last minute. Everyone knows this, but we still find ourselves at the deadline unprepared. In ministry, this is terrible. Waiting till the last minute forces everyone into a last minute frenzy.
2. Present yourself in a professional manner. If you've ever read my blogs, you've seen some major typos. Even with spell check...I get it wrong. Thank God for my wife Beverly, who is a stickler for good grammar and correct spelling. She helps me correct it as quick as possible. When it comes to presenting yourself. Consider how others perceive you. Truly, how people perceive you is how they receive you. Avoid sloppiness. There is nothing worse than sitting in a professional meeting listening to someone chomp on ice or rattle a potato chip bag. It's rude and annoying.
3. My name is not Dude! I'm not hung up on titles, but honestly...calling everyone "dude" is on the low end of professionalism. When you work in the ministry, you're accustomed to calling people "brother, sister, pastor, etc." However, we shouldn't get so hung up on titles especially when we're communicating with our peers. I pastor a church and appreciate the respect given to my role and function. However, my name is Russell. I refer to other leaders by their title/office/function primarily when I'm in front of a group. However, when I'm with them one-on-one I usually call them by their name. A direct superior may also be a best friend, but authority and submission must remain intact.
4. Be on time. Don't take advantage of your employer, church, etc., by being consistently late. Showing up 1 to 2 minutes late everyday is not only disrespectful it sends a message that you don't have to be on time. There can be two extremes when it comes to work ethic: First, a person can be a workaholic. Second, a person can be lazy. Neither are good examples, but the latter is an embarrassment, especially to the work of the Lord. I was taught that if you're on time...you're late. If you're early...you're on time. Employees of a bakery don't show up when the bakery opens...they show up before the bakery opens, ensuring the baked goods are on the shelf, the cash register set and the property is ready to receive customers. A person who does not honor time parameters erodes trust. Occasional offenses are forgivable. A pattern of time abuse shows disrespect for others.
5. Slapping someone in the Facebook. Electronic social media is huge today. Having access to Facebook, twitter, blogs, etc. is definitely here to stay. However, we must remember that having a voice doesn't mean we use that voice to injure others or make ourselves look like trash. Electronic social media is like standing on a street corner with a megaphone. Not too many people would air their dirty laundry that way. An even more cowardly action is bashing a church or an individual. Clean up your social communications and remember that a whole lot of people are watching. In fact, God is reading your Facebook too. It seems that some people have little respect for themselves by the things they say on these forms of communication. My advice is...less is more...especially when it concerns your personal business.
We're heading into a spring season...together, lets make some changes for the GOOD!