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Thursday, March 08, 2007

Loving Your Brothers in the Workplace


Last night in my Bible study group we discussed 1 John 4: 7-21. The central theme was about loving one another and it brought to mind a couple situations I have been facing recently in the workplace.

One situation has to do with an employee feeling powerless about his interaction with and relationship with his manager while his manager feels that his team member is not living up to his full potential and is responding in counter-constructive ways. Both of these men are fellow brothers in Christ but are struggling with acceptance of each others’ situation and behavior. The other situation has to do with me and my own boss, where his actions and his thinking are destructive to his own best interests because he is unwilling to accept his responsibility of certain situations. I can not control his actions or his thinking and so I am faced with the choice of acceptance and love versus rejection and hate.

In both scenarios, the vital message at hand is the wisdom to accept these situations as things under God’s control and to love one another so that God ultimately may be glorified. Without the desire to do so, situations like are not likely to result in progress, or more accurately, the deepening of one’s faith and relationship with the Father. For my self, this love for my brother (boss), which comes from God, is giving me the ability to accept the scenarios presenting themselves and in a loving and constructive manner.

1 John 4: 20-21 reads:
If someone says, "I love God,: and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can[b] he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

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1 Comments:

At 7:35 PM, Blogger Matt said...

Your post encourages people such as me faced with perceived difficulties. I think we all find ourselves in situations where we feel we are in control -- when in reality we should be relying on our faith to provide strength and guidance.

I find that when times at work get to much to handle, turning to prayer and fellow brothers is a much better solution then trying to ‘fix it’ yourself. Hopefully, others out there in a tough situation at work will learn from your kind guidance. Thank you!

 

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