Principles III

Rom.12: ^4-5 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.”

We are all connected by the Blood of Christ and by the values that we share. Two days ago, we began to look at values because the benefit of values is the reward of a principled life. We have learned that we must value Servant-spirit, Diversity, Authenticity, Informality, Simplicity, Flexibility, Teamwork, Continuous Learning, Innovation, and Humour.

#11. Value Commitment. Guess what? Nothing happens until someone commits. No marriage happens without commitment. You will not have a job today if you had not signed that employment letter. You will not have a business today, if you had not committed to a business idea, resigned from where you were and started in faith. You will not have what you have without commitment; in fact, you are a product of your commitments.

#12. Value Risk Taking. Our mantra in God’s Favourite House is No Small Dreams (NSD). We believe in dreaming big because our God can do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we can ever ask or imagine.

You must also value people and value your connection with people. The reason is, where you will be in ten years is going to be a product of the people and the books you are interacting with today, just as where you are today is a product of the people and the books you interacted with in the past. Likewise, where you will be in the future will be a product of the people and the books you are presently interacting with. Check – who are the people you are interacting with now? That is your future. If you do not like the future of the friends your spouse or your child is keeping, then you need to change those friends because your spouse or child will eventually become like them.

You could say Jesus was a nonconformist, but Jesus loved people. Jesus was not anti-people, Jesus loved to be with people. Jesus would not align with the established religious organization, but Jesus had people around Him. Rick Warren puts it this way, “Every believer is a ‘belong-er’.” And this is so powerful because if you believe and you do not belong, you will not believe for long enough. Every believer is a ‘belong-er’. What you belong to determines your protection, it determines the resources available to you and it determines how far you go really. If you say you are a believer and you are not a ‘belong-er’, then you are an orphan.

Prayer: Father, as I imbibe these values and multiply them, let my productivity in the body of Christ be greatly multiplied, in Jesus Name. Amen!