Promoting Integrity
We think of promotions as a positive thing and they usually are, but promotions can also bring devastation to your integrity. Remember when you’re promoted it came by God’s sovereign grace.
You invest more than one-third of your life at work. Punch the clock, turn on the computer, start your engines at 8 a.m., rest a few minutes at noon, but keep your mind and body in gear till the sun has set. Then tomorrow—repeat. Sound familiar?
So how can your relationship with God grow in all this? The easy temptation is to separate your life into two parts: career—public; faith—private.
But considering how much of your life you spend engaged in your career, perhaps that is the ideal place to grow in your relationship with Christ.
We think of promotions as a positive thing and they usually are, but promotions can also bring devastation to your integrity. Remember when you’re promoted it came by God’s sovereign grace.
We live in a success-obsessed society. The traits of fortune, fame, power, and pleasure are vaulted as the signs of success but none of this will give you satisfaction.
According to the theory of aerodynamics the bumblebee cannot fly. However, the bee doesn’t know that. The same can be true for us—who told you your best years have passed? Who said you’re too young to achieve your dreams? Stay open to what the Lord has in store for you. You never know what’s just around the corner!
We all have special gifts and abilities from God. While it's good to venture out of our comfort zones, here's a humorous illustration of why we shouldn’t force people to go too far outside the area of their gifting.
The thing that makes for greatness is determination, persisting in the same direction over the long haul. Success is the result of a long, painful, arduous, sometimes sacrificial process. In our world of instant everything these are not popular traits, but they lead to excellence.
It’s important to have a vision and pursue your dreams. But we have to be prepared for life to take unexpected twists and turns. So in the pursuit of our dreams we must also learn to enjoy what we have in the present.
The person at the top of an organization doesn’t have to know all the details of everything within, but he needs to know where it’s going and why. He needs to be ready to defend it.
Material gain will never satisfy your spiritual hunger. Neither will power, prestige, or success. If you pursue these things you may gain the world for time, but you could be forfeiting blessings in eternity.
Facing a massive project ahead? Having a hard time getting started on it or sticking with it? Chuck Swindoll gives some advice to help you keep plugging away at it.
Never discount anything of your past. God can pick it up and use it in the most incredible ways. If you have skills or talents you've put on the back burner, don't be surprised if one day you find yourself in a position where God gives you an opportunity to use them again. He draws from your life experiences at just the right time and in just the right place.