Empowering Employees to Thrive
Our Mission
To present Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord to business and professional men and to develop Christian business and professional men to carry out the Great Commission.
Judges 14.17 describes, she cried on his shoulder until the party was almost over. Finally, on the seventh day, he told her because she had nagged him so much. Then she told the young men the solution to the riddle. Nagging has a way of wearing us down. That explains why children use it most often because it is so effective at moving their parents to give them their way. God rewards faithfulness and even warns that only those who remain so until the end will be rewarded. Faithful until what end? Ours or the world’s I suppose.
Quitting is easy but persevering is hard. Overcoming difficulty is what the greatest athletes and soldiers do. The greatest difficulty is the inner voice that begs us to quit that which is hard so that it can return to comfort and ease. The body is never our friend when it comes to doing the hard, the difficult or that which requires perseverance for a long period of time. The old adage is true however, quitters never win and winners never quit. In the battle of right versus wrong, the necessity for perseverance and never quitting is required of the right. It is easy to do wrong and seems to take little effort. It is most difficult to consistently do what is right for long periods of time. The Christian life requires perseverance, faithfulness and endurance.
Unlike our hero in today’s verse, the person God will reward is that person who remains faithful to obey His commands day after day, year after year, until they die or He returns to take them home. Sampson failed regularly to nagging wives because he stayed in the environment where the nagging was constant. A key to persevering is to seek reprieve from the source of torment. Quitting is a reprieve but that’s not what we are after.
Fleeing from temptation is the Christian means for overcoming that allurement that would cause us to disobey God. Replacing thoughts of fear, bitterness and doubt with promises from God to always be with us, to always love us and to eventually reward us is our remedy against circumstances where fleeing is not an option. Encouraging one another to persevere is God’s remedy for us when we are collectively suffering for His Name’s sake.
The last book in God’s instructions to humanity begins with a warning to the Church to persevere though they suffer. Jesus commands faithfulness though they are tempted to fall away. God calls us to stand with Him though all others would walk away from Him. This life is not easy. The Christian life is not easy. God did not have it easy when He lived among us as one of us. As He endured by faithfully obeying to the end so He commands that we take up our cross and do likewise. Great will be the reward for those who remain faithful to the end, beginning with the Master’s words, ‘well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master.’
His Opportunities
- Prayer and Bible study occurs every Friday morning at the Coral Gables restaurant in East Lansing from 7am – 8am, feel free to join us.
- CEO's, are you looking for a private group of fellow business owners for encouragement, support, and advice? CBMC offers such a group. Contact Mike at mwinter@cbmc.com for more information.
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MONDAY MANNA
A service to the business community
A Publication of CBMC International
August 7, 2017
Money And Happiness – Not Necessarily Related
by Robert J. Tamasy
Max De Pree, an American businessman and writer, has written several thought-provoking books drawing from his experiences and observations in the workplace. One statement I have found especially interesting is: “Leaders owe people space, space in the sense of freedom. Freedom in the sense of enabling our gifts to be exercised. We need to give each other space to grow, to be ourselves.”
This insight seems particularly meaningful for me because nearly 16 years ago, a friend took that attitude when we decided to work together. Dave and I had known each other through our involvement with CBMC, including working together on the staff team. Not long after he started his own non-profit, Leaders Legacy, I was sensing it was time to do something new, so I met with Dave to solicit his advice.
After we talked for a while, it seemed obvious that working together in Leaders Legacy could prove to be mutually beneficial. I will never forget what Dave said to me that afternoon: “Bob, if you ever need a place where you can flourish and become all God wants you to be, we have a place for you.”
Up to that point I had experienced a fruitful career, enjoying many rewarding experiences as both a writer and editor. This invitation, however, promised to open doors I had yet to explore. And, as it turned out, my time with Leaders Legacy over the next 15 years provided many new opportunities that, I believe, did enable me to flourish professionally.
The key was simple. I was afforded, as De Pree wrote, the freedom to exercise my gifts, talents and experience more than ever before. In a sense, I felt like a thoroughbred racehorse when the jockey loosens the reins and gives it permission to run full out.
I had no complaints about my previous employers; nor do I wish to pat myself on the back in any way. It is just that in many situations, workers have unrealized capabilities – sometimes ones they fail to recognize themselves. Often it requires someone – the CEO, top management, even the supervisor, to say something like, “I see a lot of potential in you. But it is untapped. Maybe you do not even see it in yourself. I want to help you to become all that you can be.” Can you imagine how liberating it would be for a valued employee to hear that?
From the perspective of the Bible, taking this kind of approach would be part of “loving your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31), and “(doing) to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31). Another passage, however, addresses this important leadership trait in a different way. Proverbs 27:23-27 admonishes everyone in authority, those having responsibility for those entrusted to our direction. It talks about being discerning, striving to be sensitive to the needs of those around us:
“Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations. When the hay is removed and new growth appears and the grass from the hills is gathered in, the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field….”
Put the best interests of those working for us first – in most cases, it is also in our best interests.
© 2017. Robert J. Tamasy has written Business at Its Best: Timeless Wisdom from Proverbs for Today’s Workplace; Tufting Legacies; coauthored with David A. Stoddard, The Heart of Mentoring, and edited numerous other books, including Advancing Through Adversity by Mike Landry. Bob’s website is www.bobtamasy-readywriterink.com, and his biweekly blog is: www.bobtamasy.blogspot.com.
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