FOR I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39.
A very powerful verse that says it all. A promise that if we are with God, who will be against us. It reminds us that as believers of God, not just by professing it but most importantly, by practicing it, we are subject to scrutiny of those who know us, those we consider as our friends and enemies.
Being good is not a one day or a one week practice. It is not a product of a faith renewal or just miraculously started to just be good. It is not like a typhoon or a flood or other phenomena that after unleashing its fury, it is enough. We need to be consistently good and be a good influence especially if we are leading a group.
Being good starts with being a model or someone whose way of influencing people is through his actions, his choice of words, his decisions that will benefit majority of his flock. He does not need to say yes always; he has to say critical no to controversial issues, proposals and the likes especially if it will be counteractive to the institution’s vision, mission or goals.
It is far from easy but consistency is the key. He does not need to say it always but it is enough to manifest it consistently for no amount of words can compensate a good deed, a fair judgment and sound decision. How many leaders fail because they say something but do otherwise. It may sound as a contrite expression but up to now, it is relevant: “Do what I say but do not follow what I do”
Time and again, we will go back to the Golden Rule, “Do unto others what you want others do unto you. Even the 10 commandments are now simplified with these two commandments that summarize the 10: “Love God above everything and love other people as you love God”.
If we just only maintain our good thoughts and couple it with actions from the start to the end of the day everyday, this world or even a small group you are handling will have a better place to live in, a better group to exist.
If we want to change the world, we have to first change ourselves. Let the change we want as the change we do in our words, actions and deeds all the days of our lives.
Ourselves are the keys.