Tag Archives: #wisdom

Spirituality

My Mind Is Made Up

The self-righteous people love to tell us what to think. They seat themselves on a lofty perch and lord over all. If you challenge them, you do so at great risk of being insulted for being less than worthy of a minute of their time. Give me a break.

As an alternative, engaging in conversations with open-minded people will really get your engine running. No one knows everything, and studies have demonstrated that we are wrong about complex issues more than we are right. It requires humility to admit it when we are wrong. The only requirement necessary to believe you are right all the time is an inflated ego. Inflated like a Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade balloon.

Talk to everyone. Learn from others. Giving people a voice isn’t a threat. Listening to different perspectives will allow us to see the world through different lenses. It might even change your mind…

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Spirituality, Uncategorized

It’s Okay to Be Wrong

No one likes to be called out for being wrong, right? But the truth is, we are wrong about complex issues more often than we are right. This is a difficult truth for many to accept, so let’s explore it a little further.

Before we go there, it’s important to remember the things we do right. Things like cause-and-effect, social intuition, and skills built through repetition have been honed over time.

We are terrible at forecasting. A great example of how bad we are can be seen on the Las Vegas Strip. The massive casinos were built and remain operational because we believe we can “beat the odds.” We do, sometimes, but that’s not every time. The casinos win more than the gamblers.

Our own motives are oftentimes clouded. We believe we are being objective, but we are full of biases.

Would you like to be considered to be wise? Listen more. Talk less. Stay in the areas where you are proficient. There’s Biblical evidence to support this. James tells us to “be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry.” Great advice!

God gave us a wonderful gift: our brains. Let’s use our thoughts to make this world better than it was when we entered it. We would be right in doing this. Every time…

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Spirituality

The Temple

Solomon built a temple in Jerusalem as a place where people could worship God. It’s sometimes called the first temple. The structure Solomon had built was made from the finest stone and wood. The interior was inlaid with solid gold. It must have been quite a sight.

The Bible tells us that our bodies are temples. This is not a casual observation. It is intended as a reminder of the goodness of God who gave us our bodies to live in. But it’s the whole structure: our minds, heart, lungs, kidneys…everything. We must take care of it.

Solomon never lost sight of his why in this world. He asked God for wisdom, not money or power. All those things followed because Solomon ruled fairly and with the greatest wisdom that ever existed.

Take care of yourself mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Your body is a temple…

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Spirituality

Doing The Impossible

Have you ever tried to move a mountain? It’s possible.

How we see things will determine whether or not we will overcome them. Forgiveness is hard. Some people have hurt you, really hurt you. You hold onto the pain because you aren’t sure you can release it. Once you start to believe you can heal, the process of forgiveness has begun.

Jesus told us that “With God, all things are possible.” He didn’t say some things, or even most things. All things are possible. The challenge lies with us. We see things through human eyes. God’s vision is unlimited.

Ask God to allow you to see situations through His eyes. Expand your vision. Deepen your wisdom. And increase your faith.

You can move mountains. Even if it’s one shovel full at a time…

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#inspiration, #spirituality

A Little Scripture Study

In The Book of James, Verse 1:9 the author tells us to “be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry.” Over the next few days we will examine this a little further.

James was the half-brother of Jesus. In his letter to the church of Jerusalem, we are encouraged to be “quick to listen.” I interpret this to mean listening should be our first choice when interacting with other people. How many times have I barely heard my counterparty because I wanted to get my voice heard? Too many to count…

Listening is an art form, and to really listen is exhausting. Listening is a verb, an action word. And when you rearrange the letters in the word “listen,” you get “silent.” This is not a coincidence.

More tomorrow…

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