Facing Your Moment of Truth; How to Get Honest about your Issues & Deal with Them

Being serious about your faith is dangerous business.  You never know when your next moment of truth is coming—the moment when the truth stares in your face and forces you to reckon with its brutality.

The moment when every false smile you've plastered on your face is revealed for the farce it really is, even when you were blissfully unaware of your insincerity.

Today, I faced such a moment.   My friend and I met for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants.  Things were fine as she shared some of her life's woes, but then, the subject of Steffy arose. Steffy is a friend of hers and an acquaintance of mine.  The three of us work together.   I don't recall the entire conversation, but my life changed as she said, "She thinks you hate her."  At first I laughed it off as I denied it.  But I quickly became uncomfortable as the truth settled in.

The truth is that I don't hate Steffy.  I distrust her and resent the fact that trust doesn't exist in our professional relationship.  But the most important truth is that as a Christian whose purpose is to reflect His character and grace in all things, I have fallen miserably short.

As I meditated on my friend's comments, I realized that I had allowed myself to become comfortable with disliking, distrusting and exposing what I view as Steffy's faults.  To my shame, even unbelievers have tried to give me another perspective from which to view her.  But I rejected their insights, believing that I saw something they couldn't.

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Power to Break Unhealthy Patterns: Get Honest about the Woman in the Mirror

The Law of Attraction boils down to one simple belief, “Like attracts like.”  Meaning that what lies in us will eventually manifest itself around us.   Our beliefs have the power to either attract or repel people and opportunities into our lives.

I saw this principle clearly in my relationship with James.  On paper, a girl couldn’t ask for more … he was tall, good looking, intelligent, funny, gainfully employed and yes…he was saved.  We had great conversations and could seemingly talk about any subject.  But the problem was that James was not available.  He was single and there was no woman in his life…but James kept his emotions and the core of who he was carefully locked out of reach.

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Shushing Your Conscience to Death! When You Ignore What’s Right, Wrong Prevails

My client told me about her “text” affair last year.  I cautioned her that the only way out of it was to kill the relationship completely.  I could tell she didn’t agree, as she described the scenarios in which it would be safe to maintain connection and contact.  I knew she wanted to be free, but her desire to have her unyielded needs met competed with her desire to respect the vows in her marriage and in his.  She didn’t want to let go, because she didn’t want to go back to being unfulfilled in some key areas of her life.  

I could tell that she’d convinced herself it wasn’t an affair, because nothing physical happened.  In her naïveté and let’s face it…selfishness…she has deluded herself into thinking that it is all “just” words.  But the Word teaches us that words hold life and death.  They are the beginning of a new reality.  They are the predecessors to action.  They change the world.

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A Lesson from My “Phone Friend” : Drop Stereotypes & Branch Out in 2012

For nearly four years, Lina & I spoke on an almost daily basis.  She was a vendor for a company I worked with extensively.   We usually talked about work, but over time our conversations drifted to other topics in life.  Then one day, due to downsizing, Lina was laid off.  But, we still kept in touch via email and texting.  We eventually decided to meet for lunch and needless to say I was excited about putting a face to the voice. 

The morning of our meeting, Lina emailed me a picture so that I would recognize her when we met up.  As I stared at her picture, I couldn’t believe that  was Lina.  She looked nothing like the image I’d painted in my mind.  For years, I’d pictured a petite, energetic woman with brownish-blonde hair in her early 30’s.  But Lina wasn’t what I’d imagined.  Her voice was about 30 years her junior and her hair was a mass of gray.   While she was spry enough, she certainly wasn’t filled with energy and hobbled a little.  

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Exposing the Time Management Myth: You Can’t Manage Time, So Manage Self

Most mornings, I reach for my Smartphone before I even get out of bed.  I am forever curious about the new things my inbox will bring my way.  As a subscriber to several daily devotionals, there is usually some food for thought that helps me get the day started with focus and inspiration.  This morning, I started with a video from John Maxwell.  Today, he explored the word time and the myth of time management.

The video was loaded with thought provoking nuggets, but in a nutshell the take away was—we can’t manage time.  The only thing we can successfully manage is self.  As the New Year approaches and the temptation to make resolutions is creeping up, I needed this thought to help me successfully manage some of the changes I desire to make.

Most of us are overwhelmed and can’t seem to fit what we “must” do into our lives as it is.  So, the thought of adding some “want to dos” is practically laughable.  We struggle under the weight of family, work and church responsibilities.  We’ve erroneously thought that we just need more “time” to get everything done.  So, we schedule our lives down to the very last minute. 

But the truth is we don’t need to know how to manage our “time” better, we need to know how to manage “self” better.

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