Commend and Condemn

"Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. – 2 Corinthians 10:17-18

Often at work, I find myself noticing the things that other people are doing wrong, in order to commend myself for things I do "the right way" that I see tasks should be done. Being in a supervisor position, I find it easy to wrestle with this because I should be telling the employees what they do wrong. However, I am not in a position to be uplifting myself, as I have only been doing this job effectively for a few months. 2 Corinthians tells us that we are not approved by our own standards, but by the Lord's.

Even with the beginning of a new lesson series at our Youth Group (I'm still unsure if that is a proper noun), we are finding interest in the evenings to be dwindling. It is hard to keep our eyes fixed on what the Lord wants when we are all frustrated about the low interest and attendance. As an instructor there, I find myself again picking out where others in leadership are wrong, only to prove to myself that I am right. To be psychological, I may be blaming the others for the teen's lack of interest. Yet I find myself having just as much lack of interest in teaching, as they may in learning.

Lately, I have learned a lot about about myself in a leadership position. It's not something I am naturally comfortable with, but objectively, I enjoy leading people. As a leader in my job, and in my faith, the first thing that comes to mind thinking about a good leader is being a good example. The second is communicating clearly. Now, I could talk about these two things in depth, but that will have to wait, I want to stay focused on the subject at hand. In being a good leader, we must be a good example which I feel as though I am failing to do at times. After all, God looks at our hearts and not our actions when he decides whether to commend us in Heaven or to condemn us. So, where am I in all this? I am having a difficult time with finding commitment in my heart, but I pursue the difficult tasks regardless. With a job, I think that deserves commendation, though with the Christian faith, it takes a whole heart to follow Jesus.

We cannot boast of our own actions because of the good we see in ourselves, but we must allow the Lord to show us the good, and the bad, that only he can see.