Reflections from March 29, 2010

Today we begin James who provides good lessons to strong believers about the need to keep their faith strong. Today we read in James 1:13-15, "Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God", for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death."

Wow! Right out of the chute, James is going full bore. It brings it on hard for the readers of his letter and for us today.

Excuses for sin are many: "The devil makde me do it"; "I couldn't help myself": "It's not really my fault"; "I'm only human." James mentions another excuse that poeple give for sin; they blame God. "If only He understood how hard it is to overcome temptation," they say. "He put me in a situation that was more than I could handle."

But the problem with that way of thinking is that sin is never rooted outside of us; it alsways comes from our ouwn heart, often from our desire for what God has not given us.

In this sense, the roots of sin lie in coveteousness or discontentment. We feel that we are worthy of more than what we have. But thqat means that sin is tied closely to pride -- and God resists the proud.

But He gives grace to the humble. Therefore, the surest path to overcoming the temptation is to develop humility, which leads to contentment with the good givtgs of God.

From Proverbs 28:16 we read, "A ruler who lacks understanding is a great oppressor, But he who hates coveteousness will prolong his days."

There is hate involved with being a Christian; hating the things that offend God and hurt people, like coveteousness. To some, "hate" may seem like a very strong word, yet that is the term used here in Scripture describing the attitude that godly people need to have toward certain behaviours such as,
* Pride, arrogance, and the evil way
* Lying and the pervese mouth
* Acting as surety for a stranger
* Bribery
* Coveteousness

To fear the Lord is to hate evil, and to hate the things that offend God.

From Proverbs 29:12 we read, "If a ruler pays attention to lies, All his servants become wicked."

A manager can always have a hard time telling the differnce between lies and truth. The reasons include
* Subordinates often have a personal agenda. They do not so much "lie" as tell the boss the things that will further their agenda.
* Subordiantets are generally reluctant to tell their supoerios bad news.
* Subordinates are generally reluctant to voice their ideas or opinions with which they thing their bosses are likely to disagree.
* People often see the same thing in different ways.

A manager's greatest challenge then is to create an atmosphere in which truth and openness are respected, encouraged and rewarded. By doing so, all involved will reap the favors of God.

Blessings to all