Daily Stop & Thinks

Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself. (William Faulkner, 20^th century Nobel Prize author)

We seem to be born with a great sense of competition. Even little children always want to win, to be first, and we never seem to completely outgrow that urge to triumph. No one can always be the best at everything, so Faulkner’s advice is well taken. Compete against yourself; seek to do better as you grow and mature. That is the kind of winning that brings satisfying results.

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. (Proverbs 3:3-4).

Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul. (Douglas MacArthur, late 5-star American general)

MacArthur was not speaking of physical age but growth in maturity or advancement. He saw that when a person leaves his moral standard, he or she seems to deteriorate in their real self—their heart and mind. The body may weaken, the face may wrinkle, but the soul remains healthy and strong if a person maintains integrity, holding on to what is right and good.

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:4) Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature (Ephesians 4:13).

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. (James R. Sherman, 19^th century English minister.

This oft-repeated quotation may be overlooked because it is so simple and obvious. We often talk about starting over or going back to “square 1,” but that isn’t really possible. Times and circumstances have changed, making a completely new start impossible, but we can pick up where we are, work with renewed energy and purpose, and achieve a promising end.

The end of a matter is better than its beginning (Ecclesiastes 7:8). The desire of the righteous ends only in good (Proverbs 11:23).

Some men see things as they are and say why – I dream things that never were and say why not. (George Bernard Shaw, 19^th & 20^th centuries Irish playwright)

Every day seems to bring new inventions and radical changes in modern society. We might be curious about those things and want to know how they were discovered and for what purpose. Shaw takes a different tack and seems to urge us to dream about things that haven’t yet been discovered or brought to life, encouraging an entrepreneurial spirit to search for them.

Whatever exists is far off and most profound— who can discover it? . . . “Look,” says the Teacher, “this is what I have discovered: “Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things. (Ecclesiastes 7:24, 27).

Nobody ever wrote down a plan to be broke, fat, lazy, or stupid. Those things are what happen when you don’t have a plan. (Larry Winget, social commentator)

“Plan your work and work your plan,” they say. Sounds like a good idea, but some of us don’t like to spend the time it takes to develop a really good plan. As Winget suggests, however, failure to plan can have some really unpleasant results. So, which is better—spending time fixing up what happens without a plan or taking time to plan carefully?

Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness. (Proverbs 14:22).

The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority. (Ken Blanchard, management expert and author)

Sometimes we may think that our authority should motivate our colleagues to accomplish their work more effectively. But, forcing people to do what we want because we have the power to do so is often an unsuccessful strategy. However, influence by persuasion, careful counsel and concern will likely accomplish more than merely exercising one’s authority.

For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. (Romans 13:4).

The immediate goal is winning on the field, but the ultimate goal is winning in life. (A paraphrase of Gil Haskell, professional football coach)

Successful athletes focus on the task at hand—win the game, defeat the opponent, capture the prize. Everything else is secondary at the moment. But, as everyone knows, there’s more to life than a particular game, race, or contest. Whatever the immediate goal, every person has to give his or her greatest effort to be a successful person in life, living to one’s fullest potential.

Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1).

Effective performance is preceded by painstaking preparation. (Brian Tracy, self-development speaker/author)

Some of us long for the ability of an accomplished musician or artist. We’d like an instant infusion of talent, so we could perform right now as well as an artist we admire. Of course, life isn’t like that. Given a certain amount of natural talent, even the greatest artist has to work hard and long to achieve prominence. Every worthwhile effort requires consistent and arduous work.

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. (Romans 12:6).

No great dream has ever been built on the fear of what might go wrong but rather on the hope of what might go right. (Rich Yauger, men’s leader)

Many dreams and worthy ideas have been dashed by the fear of possible mistakes and ultimate failure. We all wish that our hopes could come true without any hindrances or obstacles. No one wants things to go wrong in his or her pursuit of fulfilling a dream. In reality, of course, we can learn and improve by encountering and overcoming setbacks. Do not fear them!

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

Vision is the ability to see people, places and things, not just the way they are, but the way they could be. (Sam Adeyemi, pastor)

We might think of a pessimist as a person who sees things as less than they really are, an optimist as one who sees things as he wishes they were, and a realist who sees things as they really are. In that same vein, then, perhaps a visionary is the one, as Adeyemi suggests, who sees things as they could be. Which of these are you? Which would you really like to be?

Where there is no vision, the people perish (Proverbs 29:18).

Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. (Joshua J. Marine, author)

When you are faced with a challenge—perhaps an obstacle in your planned path, how do you respond? Some become discouraged; maybe they even give up altogether. The brave people who face the challenge head-on, no matter how difficult, most often are the leaders who win over such difficulties and discover that life has become more interesting and rewarding.

The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart (Proverbs 17:3). Consider it pure joy . . . whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance (James 1:2-3).

You have to be willing to be misunderstood if you’re going to innovate. (Jeff Bogue, pastor)

It’s generally thought that people don’t like change. The older you are, the more likely it is that you will resist change. Leaders with new ideas often have to face that reluctance; they come to understand that it is part of progress—to expect that their ideas will be resisted by some. It takes a good bit of courage and “thick skin,” maybe, to bring helpful change.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind (Romans 15:5).