Thoughts Along The Journey

In last week’s post, I wrote: “One critical area of personal health is growth in emotional intelligence.  In other words, growth in understanding how others ‘receive’ us.  As our attitude should reflect our love and devotion to Jesus, we often miss the mark and do not even realize that our comments can appear cutting or hurtful to others.  The outside-in input of others in a community in which we are engaged can greatly help us to recognize blind spots and learn to grow in demonstrating love to others.”

How do I get that outside-in input?  You ask for it.  You ask God for the courage to ask others around you and then you approach others to ask the following questions:

• Is there anything I do that irritates you?
• Is there anything you wish I did differently?
• Is there anything you would like to say to me but have been afraid to?

There are plenty of other questions you might ask, but these might serve as a way to get you started.  As people provide you with feedback, you will begin to see common threads which should help you identify areas for growth in your emotional intelligence.

This is not about a self-improvement plan where you try harder to please others.  This is a growth process where the Spirit makes us aware of our ‘hurtful ways’ (Psalm 139) and drives us back to the Gospel to find the wisdom and strength to respond to others in a more Christ-like manner.

Filed under: Community, Emotional intelligence, Personal health | 2 Comments »

In talking about the inner life, Jesus said: “There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”  (Mark 7:15)  His words created quite a stir among the religious leaders of the day (see Matthew 15) who based holiness on outward conformity to a set of sacrificial and ceremonial laws. 

If I were to try and put this in our language today, I would say that God yearns for each of us to have strong personal health or a deep inner life.  A deep inner life is the driver behind right and fruitful ministry activity.

Time, energy and effort must be given to cultivate our inner life.  It’s not something that happens by osmosis.  It’s not something that happens on our own.

Cultivating our personal health certainly includes meditation on the Word of God and honest dialogue with the Father.  However, the deepening of our own inner life also comes through our engagement and interaction with a community of believers.  In this context, we work out the truth of the Scriptural principles that “as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17)

One critical area of personal health is growth in emotional intelligence.  In other words, growth in understanding how others ‘receive’ us.  As our attitude should reflect our love and devotion to Jesus, we often miss the mark and do not even realize that our comments can appear cutting or hurtful to others.  The outside-in input of others in a community in which we are engaged can greatly help us to recognize blind spots and learn to grow in demonstrating love to others.

Personal health is certainly ‘personal’ when we talk about one’s individual inner life.  However, one’s personal health depends in so many ways on the work of the Spirit and the input of others around us.

Filed under: Community, Emotional intelligence, Personal health | 6 Comments »