It was really the last line of that passage that caught my attention today but that whole passage is powerful. I think at times we all get mad at God. We all get frustrated. We all question. At least, I know I do. I look at evil people prospering and I am frustrated. I look at good people struggling and I am upset. I sometimes wonder where is God in all of it. It can leave me discouraged and at times has found me questioning my faith altogether.

As a chaplain, I have sat through many of these same types of conversations with people that have just lost a loved one and are asking why. Unfortunately, there is no clear answer to some of our questions, and God’s will and plan while great, often do not align with mine or yours! As a result, I can find myself feeling bitter, upset, torn, and confused. Once upon a time, this was the limit of my emotions but as I have evolved as a Christian and developed more experience and strength I recognize that I need to trust God and let His will be done even in those moments of deep despair. 

I am growing better at this. It has been a journey and it is a journey I am clearly still on. I was talking with Sharon a wise woman from church who is a bit ahead of me on that journey this weekend about this very topic. Through the loss of multiple husbands and more trials than I can count, she has built incredible faith and trust in God and His plan. I really admire her level of trust. She has reached what verse 26 talks about and God is clearly the strength of her heart forever. God has held her hand and guided her through a variety of challenges from the death of loved ones to parenting dilemmas, to ministry challenges. Along the way, she has learned to lean in and trust God and it has brought her tremendous peace and has also yielded a great deal of wisdom that has allowed her to be a better friend, wife,  mother, and follower. She has truly allowed Jesus to take the wheel as Carrie Underwood famously sings.

I took a lot of inspiration from that conversation with Sharon and from this timely passage that showed up in my reading today. The conversation was a great reminder that I still have plenty of learning and growing to do. I have been thinking about that a lot over the past 24 hours and this verse feels like God highlighting that for me. Yes, I have a ton of growing to do but I do have one thing that will help me at every step of my journey and that is the knowledge that God is mine forever. I may not know what the future holds. I may not know what ups and downs I will face but God is my rock and I will trust in Him no matter what comes my direction. I will continue working to lean into Him and trust His plan but I can rest assured knowing that no matter what that plan includes, I know I won’t ever be alone or without his help and support even when I reach the end of my journey here on earth.

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I love this attitude! This is how we should all approach our ministries. Too often, ministries become about the leader and their influence. The ministry becomes a source of power and control for the ladder and what once started as a mission for God morphs subtly into something that is more about the leader than about Christ. Their mission becomes maintaining power and stoking their personal ego instead of whatever it is they set out to accomplish. 

This can also happen to businesses, organizations, and churches that set out on a mission but become distracted by the day-to-day operations. The mission can become lost in the internal politics that naturally occur. Instead of the mission, the workers and leaders began to focus on the operations and their own position within this internal ecosystem and how their position has them viewed internally and externally to the organization. 

This can even happen on an individual basis. People can be so caught up on growing their social media follower count or personal reach that they say or do things that don’t align with their beliefs or compromise their integrity simply to get more likes and follows. This desire to grow a following on Instagram, YouTube, or whatever platform they’re focused on becomes more important than maintaining their integrity and honoring God. You can see this all over our society with the sexualization of platforms like Instagram and the rise of sites like OnlyFans.

Long story short, it is easy to get off track and forget that we’re serving God and not ourselves. It is easy to get intoxicated by power and fame even within small circles. John did not fall victim to that. Quite the contrary, he shared directly with his followers the famous phrase, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’ He shared this from the beginning and even as Jesus arrived on the scene he was not jealous or worried about the loss of followers or ministry. John had built a powerful following but he was more than happy to see Jesus take on those followers because that was His mission and he knew it and didn’t forget it. 

The truth is we’re not here for our fame and glory. That could be part of our journey but as followers of Christ, we’re here to lead people to Him. That may be done a number of ways but we need to be careful about making our churches, ministries, and even businesses about us and not Him. In everything, we need to do we need to remember who the true hero of the story is and it is not us! 

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I love this quote. This is what Christian leadership should look like but it is a bit aspirational. I often find that the realization and acceptance of our brokenness is missing. Many leaders don’t realize just how much they need Christ and many of those being led don’t approach their leaders with a heart of grace which leads to many conflicts and other challenges.

I was listening to the author Robert Greene talk yesterday about Napoleon in a number of different contexts at the Arete Live conference. I am generally familiar with Napoleon and his history as a French military and political leader but I didn’t know nearly as much about his rise and fall as I thought. What was really interesting about what Robert shared is that like so many leaders he followed a familiar arc that took him from nothing to one of the most well-known military and government leaders on the planet, and then ultimately he was toppled and ended up being banished in exile in Elba. 

You see this same type of arc happen all over in leadership. It happens at the world’s biggest companies and organizations and at small businesses and churches. A leader with a mission, calling, and passion will rise up and create some sort of organization that rallies against ‘the man’ or the establishment. They will have a fresh product, approach, or vision and they will reshape the market. They will grow wildly drawing many people into their sphere of influence but then often with all of that influence, power, and size they will grow distracted. They go from supplanting the man to becoming the man. Some of these leaders, pastors included beginning to believe they are great instead of God. Their heads get too big.  They become addicted to their success and power and so often become the thing they rallied against. This happened with Napoleon but it is happening every day with leaders of all types. You can see it in businesses and you can also see it in churches.

As leaders, it is important to not allow ourselves to become Napoleon. I think that is especially true of Christian leaders whether leading in a church context or a business context we can’t allow ourselves to forget that it is God’s grace that saved us. It is the gifts God has given us that have allowed us to reach whatever level of success we have reached and we need to remember that we’re the underdogs! Even in the smallest business, it is easy to allow our ego to run away with us. When God is choosing us he chose us for a reason and we need to let those gifts continue to shine and not allow ourselves to become something other than what God created us to be.

As Paul points out in Corinthians, God chose us, not the rich and fancy. So even in success, we cannot allow ourselves to become something other than what God created and called us to be! We can’t allow our success or failure to go to our head but instead lean into God and his wonderful grace and realize that our service in life is for His Kingdom and not for our own.

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As leaders, we can try to project the perfect image. We can try to curate what other people think and say about us, our leadership, and our organizations but the truth is, we can’t hide the truth. We are human and we are not perfect. Paul certainly didn’t try to project an image of anything other than the truth! Paul is very honest with Timothy about his own leadership credentials. Paul was not a good man and persecuted Christians. He was a terrible sinner and he makes that very clear. He also made it clear that leadership starts with God’s grace. Paul says, “The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly” (1:14). Paul doesn’t see himself as being particularly qualified or deserving but as a result, he is a perfect example of the power of God’s grace!

We may not be as flawed as Paul but Paul should be an inspiration to each of us as leaders. Paul became one of the greatest and most influential leaders of all time and He did it through the power of Christ working within Him and through the grace of God. I believe that we all have the potential to be good leaders within the context God places us in if we too accept the gift of grace and trust in the Lord to guide us. Grace is the foundation of our faith. It is also the cornerstone of our ministry and leadership. Our ability to lead comes through grace and requires grace. Nothing we do is deserved or earned. All of our blessings come through grace and God’s unmerited favor. We need to recognize this both in times of fear and angst over our ability to effectively lead and also in times of success when we feel the temptation to take credit for our excellent leadership!

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This is an interesting passage. I think it could be taken a lot of ways. In context, it is alluding to pure and impure foods and the regulations around things of that nature but I think we can apply it to all types of situations. A truly pure person has a heart for God. A pure person lives a life with an uncompromising desire to please God. Jesus is a pure person’s barometer and a pure person does not need external validation gained from following a bunch of man-made rules. A truly pure person’s purity comes from knowing and loving God to the point that they’re disinterested and unwilling to take part in evil things. A pure person doesn’t need man-made rules because when they’re sold out and following Jesus His rules and ways are far superior and his bar is higher. When we trust and follow the Lord He will guide us to a higher standard and level.

I know at the time that Paul wrote this letter the Jews were heavily emphasizing purity and they had developed thousands of rules and regulations that deemed many things impure. In their eyes, falling short of these rules was the problem. God was secondary to these rules. The interesting thing is that many of those things were not actually impure. They made laws to make laws and many laws become unbearable and basically become a religion of their own. Following those laws didn’t necessarily bring someone closer to God. In fact, they distracted the Jews from experiencing Jesus. Following those laws also didn’t make someone pure. In fact, Jesus said, “Their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules” (Matthew 15:8–9).

Following Christ is about Christ. It isn’t about silly rules or customs. It is very easy to follow the rules and project the image of being a good Christian even today. There are plenty of Christians that attend church weekly, listen to Christian radio stations, and check the Christian box on their social media profiles that don’t know God. They aren’t trying to know God. They aren’t investing in that relationship. They pretend enough to get by but live just like any non-believer Monday through Saturday. In fact, I could make a pretty good argument that the majority of self-professed Christians especially here in America aren’t really pursuing God in the ways he desires. This is easily revealed in how they live their lives and how they invest their energy. Many spend hours a day on social media and TV but can’t find the time to read or pray. Many talk a good game with other Christians but behind closed doors spend their time watching and consuming things that are terrible.

I say they but more often than I care to admit I have found myself in this camp doing some of these very things. It is easy to do in our modern society. In fact, it is hard not to with social media and TV filled with things that contrast God’s teaching. On top of that, it feels like simply saying you are a Christian is enough. In fact, sometimes it feels like in our corrupt society that saying we’re a Christian in itself is such a huge step it is all we need to do. Just by doing that we’re setting ourselves apart and following Christ.

Jesus calls us to something so much greater. If we truly want to follow Him we won’t be satisfied simply by checking a box and living like a non-believer. If we lean into God and our relationship with Him we will find that not only does he work to purify our hearts and minds He changes us completely from the inside out. He has been doing that and working on me for years but each day I feel my mind and heart evolving and it is the work of Christ within me refining me. I certainly won’t claim to be pure or even close to being at the end of my journey but I have had enough of a taste of what Christ brings through my relationship with Him that I will not turn back to simply trying to follow the big rules. Nor will I go back to being a consumer Christian. I will not regress to a superficial ‘yes I believe in God’ type relationship. I am not content with anything less than a full, deep, exclusive relationship with Christ. I am working to invest in that daily and I will continue to do so! I want that deep, lasting relationship with Him. I want the pure heart that only comes through a true and honest relationship with Jesus.

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Really, the part I want to highlight is found in verses 8-11: “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day, he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

We need rest. The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath as Jesus teaches in  Mark 2:27. I forget this sometimes. On a daily basis, I spend time in the Word of God and I also spend time listening to podcasts about entrepreneurship, many of which preach the hustle everyday type mindset. Those two are constantly at battle within me. Sometimes it is hard to balance being all-in on my faith and all-in on my business. It is not that the Bible teaches I should be lazy, it is actually quite the contrary. We are to work hard and be good stewards of the skills and abilities given to us by the Lord but in today’s entrepreneurship culture there are a lot of influencers pushing for a very unbalanced lifestyle of working 7 days a week 15 or more hour days to out hustle everyone. This is not a sustainable lifestyle nor is it Biblical. So where does someone that wants to honor God and be successful land? Great question, I wish I had the answer. 

I think this is most pronounced when it comes to the Sabbath. The Sabbath is to be a day of rest. A twenty-four-hour period each week where we spend time resting from what would be considered work and spending time recuperating and growing closer to God. The day of rest was part of God’s original plan for creation and was detailed in these verses from the Ten Commandments and yet it almost seems like blasphemy given modern American culture. The idea of taking a day away from the grindstone seems impossible or foreign and honestly, with the busy schedules, we live it often is very difficult because we’re overcommitted and need that time to sustain.

So what is one to do? How do we beat the competition and hustle every day while also taking an entire day each week to rest? How do we honor God and still accomplish what we need to? I have actually been thinking about this topic a lot over the past couple of years. I sat in on a great session on the Sabbath from AJ Swoboda a couple of years back. He was talking about some wonderful concepts and teaching from his book Subversive Sabbath. I have been trying to be very intentional about trying to take a Sabbath since then. I have rarely done anything resembling traditional work on Sundays and have focused instead on serving the Lord, spending time with family, and being productive in things that bring me joy, relaxation, life, and connection with the Lord. I have not been entirely successful but spending this time has taught me one important lesson and that is that taking rest truly does reenergize me. 

Before I entered this season of trying to take a Sabbath I worked most weekends. We can do that for a period but the more we work the less rested our brains are. I am one that can work endlessly but I have noticed that my thinking is not as sound. I am not as productive. I am less likely to come up with new ideas. I am less creative. I am less focused. Those truths also are problems throughout the week not on a single day. Taking time away to use my brain in other ways reenergizes and recharges me for the mission at hand and helps me be more successful the rest of the week. Spending time with the Lord also draws me closer to Him which positively impacts every area of my life.  Imagine that, God was onto something. We have been designed by the creator from the beginning to rest on a rhythm. We are built for this type of rest and reconnection and if we yield our schedules, our dreams, and our priorities to Him and trust in Him we can truly rest and know and experience that His will is greater than ours.

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This made me think of the echo chambers we live in today. In our modern, social media and news cycle-driven society people surround themselves with others that agree with them. Christians build a network of Christians. Republicans build networks of Republicans and only watch Fox News. Democrats surround themselves with Democrats and only watch CNN. We spend our time on social media watching things we agree with. The algorithms show us more of the things we watch and like and pretty soon we begin to believe that our thoughts and feelings are right and they are the only way to think even when they deviate from scripture. In Paul’s day, there were false teachers but in today’s society, those false teachers came come not just from the pulpit but through social media and influencers that are misguided or operating under an entirely different agenda. In fact, false teachers and false information surrounds us and confuses us to the point it can be challenging to know what to believe or who to follow.

In all of this chaos, it is certainly more comfortable to be with your tribe. To spend time surrounded by people that affirm our views and agree with our perspectives than it is to challenge and be challenged but is it right? We don’t like to be challenged. This is very true of political views and it may be even more true with religious views. We surround ourselves with leaders and teachers that share the perspectives that we believe in and agree with. Things that make us comfortable and make us feel right or morally superior. The question that we have to ask though is are those things of God? I would argue that in our current society that too many churches have politicized their preaching. They are bending the teaching of scripture to try to support political topics even when it may be taking those. I would also argue that so much of what our society is battling over through politics can easily be solved through truly analyzing scripture and looking at the teachings of Jesus. Unfortunately, we have a problem in our society. There is a lot of false teaching and we have a good portion of our population that has never read or experienced the true Word of God. This is true of both Christians and non-Christians and that makes things cloudy and confusing because so many operate on unfounded opinions and hearsay about Christians and about Jesus.

I think it is important today to be more careful than ever about preventing false teachers and influences from polluting our minds. If we allow social media and algorithms to shape our thinking we can see all sorts of themes emerge. We begin to believe that abortion is ok, sex is a hobby, marriage is temporary, Christians are evil, homeless people aren’t important, immigrants aren’t people and so much more. We begin to believe the world is here to cater to and serve us and our needs, and so much more. On top of that, we start to believe that anyone that isn’t like us is the enemy. That every one that believes something different is a horrible person. That everyone is trying to scam everyone. That Christians are evil. We are told that everything is a conspiracy and so on. 

It is honestly crazy! The world we live in blows my mind and so do Christians. The Bible doesn’t explicitly address every issue in our society but it doesn’t have to because it gives us the greatest commandments which are to love God and love people. From there, we can find a way to interpret just about any issue. We can use this same measure to help us ferret out false teachers and false truths. Like the verses suggest, this will help us reject these non-truths and myths. We also can’t be afraid to do what is right even if it goes against the grain of society. That may mean stepping out or speaking out against things. It may mean choosing what is right instead of doing what is easy. It may mean a lot of things but as Christians, it is up to us to know the Word of God and to do what is right even when it stretches us or makes us uncomfortable. Many people around the world have died for Jesus and are still dying for Jesus.

We have to do better and be better. We have to lean into the teachings of Scripture. We have to teach it to our children and we have to live it daily. We can’t allow agendas or echo chambers to guide us. The key is to really know and live scripture. I am not saying it is easy but if we do this it sure solves a lot of the problems in our lives and if Christians do it at scale it also solves a lot of problems in our society. It won’t be without its difficulties but like these verses suggest we can’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Instead, we should be thankful for the opportunity to know and suffer for Christ.

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The word of God cannot be chained. What a powerful message. Paul was chained and imprisoned but that didn’t stop him from preaching the Word. Paul had the heart to see others reached and changed by the Gospel and he did not allow anything to hold him back or keep him from that mission. Like a soldier for Christ, he risked his life time and time again. He trusted in the Lord and withstood far more than most of us could imagine while fulfilling the mission Jesus sent him on. 

During his life, Paul did an awful lot. One of the things that has always impressed me though is how big of an impact he was able to make during his season in prison/house arrest. Reading the Bible, I often have a hard time understanding the amount of time things actually took and this certainly includes the time in prison for Paul. Mentally, I feel like the stories in the Bible unfolded roughly at the pace I read them but that is not the case at all. For example, in the Old Testament, Abraham had to wait 25 years for God’s promise to be fulfilled through the birth of Isaac. That is a very long time to remain faithful. It is also estimated that Joseph spent 13 years in prison before he was released by Pharoah. Similarly, it is estimated that Paul spent 5 ½ to 6 years of his journey as a Christian in prison, yet, he didn’t allow that to phase him or dissuade him from his journey nor did he use that season as a break from his mission. To me, that is impressive faith. It would be easy for any of these men to become discouraged or waste their time waiting but instead, they made impacts in other ways during their seasons of waiting.

I have heard God instruct me to wait and to be patient before and after a couple of days, I am ready to move on. I am ready to forge ahead following my own will and not His. I think I am far too used to our instant gratification society. I am impatient if my Netflix takes 30 seconds to load. The thought of waiting 25 years for God’s promise to be fulfilled and being patient and faithful in the process is truly mind-blowing for me and my limited perspective. I have a lot to learn and a lot of opportunity to grow when it comes to being patient and waiting on the Lord. 

What these verses and Paul’s life journey highlight for me though is that God is faithful and we can trust what he says. It helps me see that we can still be productive, faithful, and on mission in our waiting. It also shows me that as Christians it is important to think outside the box. Just because Paul was stuck in jail it didn’t mean the Gospel was. Paul may have been chained but the Word of God was unchained. Being stuck in jail certainly didn’t mean he couldn’t make an impact. He just had to think outside the box. He needed to find other ways to move forward and he did that through letters. Even though he was under house arrest in Rome, the apostle Paul was able to write the epistles Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. These letters he wrote had tremendous doctrinal and practical instruction. Through them, Paul’s time in prison was a great blessing not only to the churches at his time but also a blessing to all generations that followed all the way up to modern Christians who have learned and benefited from these great works. 

So from this, I draw a couple of lessons. First, I need to listen to God and be patient. I need to be ok with seasons of waiting. I need to realize that God’s will and mission is big and that I don’t know all that he is doing. Instead, I need to trust in the position and station He has placed me in. Second, even when I feel constrained by times of waiting it doesn’t mean the Gospel is. I may have circumstances in life that hold me back and keep me from doing exactly what I want or how I want. Those times are not an excuse to fall away from my faith but instead a time to invest deeper in my faith. To faithfully serve God and spread the Gospel within whatever context God has placed me in. I may need to get creative. I may need to think outside the box. I may even need to step outside my own comfort zone but I shouldn’t use my present circumstances as an excuse to not live the life God has called me to live. 

The post We May Be Chained but the Gospel Never Is. first appeared on Stemkoski.com.

This one hit me square in the jaw after being asked to speak about chaplaincy at church yesterday. The last-minute, morning-of-speaking request threw me off. I am not a public speaker and I am pretty good at arranging my life to avoid that type of discomfort but when the ask came in I thought thoughts that were very similar to this passage and instead of going with my natural instinct of saying heck no, or suggesting another time infinitely in the future when I can properly prepare, I said yes. Instead of writing something down I just prayed and asked God to share through me what he would want me to share. After doing so, I am glad I did or this verse would have hit me even harder this morning than it did! 

It is not that I am ‘ashamed’ of God’s Kingdom by any means but too often I lean toward my own comfort over being bold and outspoken for the Lord. These verses are a great reminder that I can’t do that. I can’t allow myself to fall victim to fear or be timid when it comes to proclaiming the Lord. He has changed my life. He has saved my life. He is doing great things in me and through me and I should be happy and excited to share those. The truth is I am. It is just that too often I allow myself to slip into the areas I feel comfortable and safe. I miss opportunities to connect with others one on one, or in big groups like speaking to the entire congregation because of my own fear and discomfort and I need to take Paul’s prompting of Timothy here to heart. I can’t let my own fear or timidity hold me back from His mission.

Yesterday stretched me though and I am glad I allowed myself to be stretched. Stretching is good. The stretching through chaplaincy has been life-changing. I have been seeing God do amazing things. I have also seen God doing great things in me by putting me in situations I have no ability to handle without Him. It was an honor to get to share about that and even though I probably could’ve said what I said better with some preparation I got great feedback from others that were listening and hopefully if nothing else people realized that there are ways that they can serve the Lord outside of the church. I don’t expect everyone to want to become a police chaplain but I do hope that they can see God is working in many areas and in many ways. There are plenty of opportunities to serve beyond the church walls. I also hope that those listening see the benefits of using their gifting to step out and serve His Kingdom. 

I think we can all benefit from not allowing ourselves to live restrained by fear. Our calling may be different. Our fears and worries are going to be different but no matter what we’re up against we can trust in God. He is the answer and He loves us. We shouldn’t allow anything to hold us back from serving and growing His Kingdom. If He asks, the answer should always be YES, Lord!

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This man was born in 1809.

In 1816 at the age of 7, he was forced to work because his family was expelled.

In 1818 he lost his mother.

In 1828 he lost his sister.

In 1831 he opened his first business and ended up going bankrupt.

In 1832 he stood in the legislative elections and lost.

In 1833 he borrowed money to open another business and went bankrupt again.

In 1835 he met a wonderful woman, they fall in love, get engaged, and she dies.

In 1836 he fell into a deep depression and remained bedridden for 6 consecutive months.

In 1836 he gets up and runs for the legislative election and loses again.

In 1840 he presented himself as an elector and lost

In 1842 he met the woman he would end his life with, they fall in love, they get engaged, and have four children. They go on to lose 3 of those 4 children.

In 1843 he appeared again at Congress and loses. 

In 1845 he appears at Congress and lost again.

In 1850 his last remaining son dies.

In 1854 he ran for the Senate and lost.

In 1856 he ran for Vice President and lost not even capturing 100 votes.

In 1858 he ran for Senate and lost again.

In 1860 he ran for President and was elected the 16th President of the United States!

Not only was he elected but he was elected for two terms but was assassinated at the beginning of his second term. He was one of the most respected and impactful presidents in the history of the United States.

Abraham Lincoln is best known for freeing the slaves. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.” Abraham Lincoln’s influence on the United States and the world cannot be disputed but perhaps the most amazing thing is that he ever had a chance to be President at all. 

The number of challenges he overcame to become President is absolutely staggering. I know about a small sampling of those but even having read some biographies of him over time I didn’t realize how many doors shut in his face he didn’t let a single one sway him from his mission. 

I listen to a ton of podcasts on entrepreneurship, leadership, and success. I also read a ton of books on those topics and if I had to boil down success in life to one word it would be grit. You could define that many ways but Lincoln’s life is basically a masterclass on grit. In life we all face opposition. For most people, losing the first election would’ve been the end of their political journey and they would’ve gone on to something else. Not Lincoln, I counted at least 8 political election losses before he had a victory. Without grit, he probably would’ve ended up selling shoes at the general store or working on his farm in quiet isolation but thanks to his grit and determination he changed our world. 

I think so often in life we run from anything that challenges us or makes us feel bad. We’re told we’re not good at something and we give up. We’re told we can’t do something and we believe that person. We lose our job and we change careers. We fail at something and we give up. I think this is part of the natural tendency of humans but I feel like in today’s society life is so comfortable that it is even easier to slip into this type of mindset.

In fact, I think it is almost encouraged by how our society operates. We have gone so far toward political correctness that today it is hard to feel challenged. We want everything to be friendly to everyone. We don’t want to offend others. We don’t want to hurt others’ feelings. We don’t want to rock the boat to the point there are races without winners. There are schools without grades. There are trophies for last place. I am all for loving our neighbor but sometimes love needs to be tough.

Once upon a time, our survival depended on grit and tenacity. Our modern society has become so easy and comfortable that these values are no longer required for survival and actually seemed to be discouraged because they can come across as too aggressive or make someone stand out from the pack.

I believe that this current culture has driven a lot of brilliant people to fall far short of their potential. Which is a travesty for our country and our world. It has stifled the God-given gifts of far too many people. There is a lot more greatness in those around us than we will ever see because they would stop after failure one, two, or three. I don’t want to operate this way, although I have in the past. I benchmark myself off of those around me which is a mistake because they’re living give-up lives. I need to benchmark myself off of people like Abraham Lincoln that won’t take no for an answer. They won’t allow the realities of this world to hold them back. I can only imagine that along his journey hundreds if not thousands of people told him no, give up, you’ll never, you don’t, you won’t, and all the other things we have all been told but he didn’t let that stop him. He didn’t use his upbringing as an excuse. He didn’t use his personal losses as an excuse. Nor did he blame his failures on his circumstances. He knew what he could do. He had passion and beliefs and he fought and fought and eventually was able to really make an impact because he never gave up. He had a level of grit that is hard to come by in any time period but feels almost impossible in our soft society. It is that same grit that led him to be one of the greatest Americans of all time.

So the moral of the story is don’t give up. Each one of us has far more in us than it feels like or than we even realize. We can do so much more. We can withstand so much more. We can be so much more if we live life with real grit. God has gifted each of us with tremendous gifts and abilities and it is our duty to push ourselves to the limits of those gifts to maximize the impact we can make on the world for Him.

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