2 Cor. 5:14,15, “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one who has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”
What motivates you in your role in your family, in your job, and how you serve others one day at a time? Paul’s first motivation in his ministry was his fear of the Lord. In second place was Christ’s love for him and not his love of Christ. Those are the two motivating truths that kept Paul from burn-out because Paul recognized two factors:
- God loves me and knows my name (2 Cor. 5:11; Isa. 43:1).
- The Lord loves me, died for me, and rose again, that I may live for him (2 Cor. 5:14,15).
So have you felt like giving up at times this week or seen your frustration level rise repeatedly? Have you noticed there is new stress in your life with this Coronavirus that you never experienced before? Staying in isolation can be lonely, especially if you are an extrovert and a people person. If, like me, you are now working from home via email and text messaging, besides speaking over the phone, there is a danger of emails and texts that can be easily misunderstood because one cannot hear the tone behind the intent. There is valuable incredible power in connecting in our relationships with one another that can only be done face to face in person, with eye contact.
More conflicts are going to increase during this current time of the Coronavirus crisis. We all have our own personality style in handling conflicts with people. A Dominant DISC personality style focuses on logic, are direct, tuff minded, results orientated, outgoing, fast paced, and focus on logic and winning in a battle. The Influential, tend to express feelings during the conflict. They are fast-paced, have high energy, extroverts, know how to influence, and are optimistic. Steadiness needs to get a consensus during times of conflict (that is so me), are reflective and analytical, and are cautious, reflective, thoughtful, and think before they speak (Peter, in the New Testament and I can relate, as I wish I was better at doing so). They make great listeners and counselors. The fourth style, Conscientious, are even tempered moderately paced, uses logic, justness, accuracy, and fairness in conflict, and tend to be more private. They prefer a text or email over a phone call. Have you been able to identify which DISC personality style you have? That is why we each have different viewpoints at times but we need to think about others good intentions and what their motivation was when encountering these now more occurring clashing situations, heightened by our newly enclosed shelter-in-place home conditions.
There is a sense of powerful effectiveness when we are able to manage our everyday life with efficiency, joy, and contentment, despite the various media reports. Paul was able to remain content with a life of pain, trials, and discomfort if it brought glory to God. He was the mentor of mentors in this regard. What verses in the Bible help you in accomplishing this?
Remember Paul’s two motivating factors in his life and read them to yourself every morning:
- God loves me and knows my name (2 Cor. 5:11; Isa. 43:1).
- The Lord loves me, died for me, and rose again, that I may live for him (2 Cor. 5:14,15).
There is an old song that is so very true right now that I want to share with you. Listen to a song sung by Lynda Randall. She is a Southern Gospel Dove Award winner. She was born and raised in the inner city of Washington D.C. Born into a family of seven children, she was the middle child. Listen to “One Day At A Time (Live/Lyric Video) 5/26/2017– YouTube.