day 712: Seriously (repost)

"And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching."

The adage is, "let's not take ourselves too seriously". For the most part that is correct as the minute we start to take ourselves too seriously we can come to find out that no one takes us nearly as seriously as we do and that is a real let down. I have known many an executive who must get up in the morning and look in the mirror and say to themselves that no one is more important than the face looking back at them. Why do I think this, because they bring that attitude to work and it is really annoying to everyone else. So, if we are taking ourselves too seriously, we should drop the act and recognize that we all put our pants on the same way each day. That said, there are areas where we should be seriously serious. I was with a friend recently who was telling me about someone he hired whose most recent employment had been terminated because he passed, what he thought and perceived at the time as innocent, an email joke along to members of his team. Three days later he was fired and removed from a very good job that he needed. On reflection, and in the interview with my friend he said he, "just had not taken it seriously enough".

Part of being serious when we need to be is in the understanding that we are setting and throwing off an example each and every day, hour, and minute. If we don't listen to that voice down inside of ourselves that is telling us, "this is a time to be serious" and stop playing games, we can get ourselves in serious trouble and let a lot of people down. As believers we get great teaching from the Word, our prayer time and where we worship. But we need to take that teaching and carry it into our jobs as much as anywhere else in our lives. We read clearly of this in Titus, "And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching." Today, let us evaluate and reevaluate where in our lives we should rightly be a little more serious in who we are.

Reference: Titus 2:7 (New Living Testament)

day 681: Seriously

"So take this seriously. The Lord has chosen you to build a Temple as his sanctuary. Be strong, and do the work."

By its' nature, work is serious. While we sometimes work to make it fun, if not taken seriously then work that is done in not serious fashion can do real damage. Without seriousness, the bridge fails, the plane stops flying, the food is undercooked, the room is unclean, the diagnosis is wrong, the presentation is flawed, etc. We have to take work seriously. In fact, those businesses who are able to find a way that all the people who work within the company realize how important, critical and serious the work they do really is and how it fits into a bigger picture, are able to get more productivity and engagement from their people. And, it's not about being able to say that the work that is being done is changing the world. While that would be nice, and some organizations are working on those types of projects, for most it is about the work that is being done being completed in way that is of the highest quality and standards of excellence. This matters. Serious work matters. Organizations that bring out the best of people and their seriousness to their jobs are doing something right.

When Solomon took over the responsibility to build the Temple, his Father, David, told him, "..Take this seriously". It was serious work. What this verse tells me is that God's work is serious and we are to take our responsibility of upholding and building up our part of God's Temple seriously. Anything in our life that we take seriously, we will find ourselves focused and aligning the rest of our life to accomplish or achieve that goal or task. Those things that we don't take seriously, or that we take lightly, don't usually get done and if they do, it's never as good as it could have been had we put more of ourselves into it. God asks us to live a life that reinforces Him to others as us being examples of what it means to follow and love the Lord. Is there anything that could be more serious? God calls us to a great and abundant life in following Him, but with that comes us taking it seriously.

Reference: 1 Chronicles 28:10 (New Living Testament)

day 572: Seriously

The adage is, "let's not take ourselves too seriously". For the most part that is correct as the minute we start to take ourselves too seriously we can come to find out that no one takes us nearly as seriously as we do and that is a real let down. I have known many an executive who must get up in the morning and look in the mirror and say to themselves that no one is more important than the face looking back at them. Why do I think this, because they bring that attitude to work and it is really annoying to everyone else. So, if we are taking ourselves too seriously, we should drop the act and recognize that we all put our pants on the same way each day. That said, there are areas where we should be seriously serious. I was with a friend recently who was telling me about someone he hired whose most recent employment had been terminated because he passed, what he thought and perceived at the time as innocent, an email joke along to members of his team. Three days later he was fired and removed from a very good job that he needed. On reflection, and in the interview with my friend he said he, "just had taken it seriously enough". Part of being serious when we need to be is in the understanding that we are setting and throwing off an example each and every day, hour, and minute. If we don't listen to that voice down inside of ourselves that is telling us, "this is a time to be serious" and stop playing games, we can get ourselves in serious trouble and let a lot of people down. As believers we get great teaching from the Word, our prayer time and where we worship. But we need to take that teaching and carry it into our jobs as much as anywhere else in our lives. We read clearly of this in Titus, "And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching." Today, let us evaluate and reevaluate where in our lives we should rightly be a little more serious in who we are.

Reference: Titus 2:7 (New Living Testament)