Leading Through Change Devotional-Part 2

 

Day 2-Trustworthy

 

James 3:8-10

“But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.”

 

            As someone who generally has a pretty good sense of humor; pranks, roasts, and jokes run right up my alley. When I was younger though, I had poor timing and often had a hard time distinguishing between a friendly jab or yarn and being outright mean or unkind. On one occasion, two of my brothers and I had been invited to play baseball with some other homeschool boys. Due to some miscommunication, the directions we had to the park were inaccurate and we wound up being quite late. As I walked across the parking lot carrying my bats and glove, someone shouted from the diamond some comment about how it was about time we had showed up. I shouted back, “well if Isaac would have given us good directions, we would have been here a half hour ago!” First, Isaac, one of the friends within the group, hadn’t been the one giving us directions, I just wanted to insult someone because we were so late and I was frustrated. Second, I had broadcasted this insult for everyone in the park to hear. My brother immediately made a comment to me about the insensitivity of my remark.

I learned a valuable lesson that day; we can break years of trust with one careless action or comment. Thankfully, Isaac is my best friend today and I’m not sure he would even remember the incident. If we want to be trustworthy leaders, we must protect the trust we’ve built by always being aware of what are words and actions are communicating to everyone around us. Just like this passage from James talks about, our words have great power and how we use them can either bring life or death. It should also be a reminder to us that if we are going to call ourselves followers of Christ and praise His name, how can we then use our words to hurt or cut down someone who is made in His image? Being a trustworthy person starts with the words we communicate and if we then live up to what we proclaim and promise.

 

Questions for Consideration:

1. What are three practical ways you can build deeper trust with those you lead?
2. Have you ever broken someone’s trust within your organization? Did you make it right, and if not, how can you today?