On my desk is a post-it note that reads:
Be Better Than Yesterday.
I look at this quite often.
One of the great temptations in our work is to coast. Actually, this is one of the great temptations of life. People who coast have figured out a way to do life with little effort. We can become lazy and slothful. Some of us become mindless. We have learned to live in such a way that requires little thought.
Church leaders who coast are doing their churches no favor. Yet, many of us may find it to be tempting. I recall the elder who said to his fellow elders and ministers regarding the ministry of their congregation as the New Year approached: “Well its business as usual. Let’s just do what we’ve been doing.” Such a statement created no passion or call to prayer. It seemed that we were about to yawn together as a group.
No conversation. No thought. No reflection. No call to put our faith in God against the forces of this world.
Business as usual.
I’m not sure where I first heard the phrase “Be Better Than Yesterday.”
I like it because it reminds me each day that by the grace of God, I don’t have to stay the way I am. I am not stuck nor have I been given permission to live a bland, mediocre life.
The following are four truths that I have experienced. They remind me that I can be better than yesterday.
1. I can always learn something. Far too many people settle and become mentally lazy.
2. I can grow but must be willing to make an effort. Far too many people limit themselves not because they can’t read but won’t read. Others are unwilling to watch even a video which could yield valuable information or training. Some are content to just get by refusing to doing nothing more than the bare minimum.
3. I can change. As Christians, we are dependent upon the power of God in our lives. Personal growth and development are not impossibilities. God’s Spirit is at work in us creating the capacity to do what we otherwise might be unable to do.
4. I can become the person God wants me to me regardless of my upbringing or roadblocks which may have existed early in my life. Some of us had great parents. Some of us did not. Becoming who I need to be is not limited to those who had a wonderful home. On the other hand, one might say “I don’t want to ever be like my Dad.” Yet, if that person isn’t willing to grow and develop, he or she will often become exactly the kind of person they say they don’t want to become.
What about you?
Are you better than yesterday?