Two young men arm wrestling at a safe home in Myanmar. Picture by Bryon Lippincot.
Since I live in Nashville but our family has followed the KC Chiefs for years, I named Chiefs my fav team before the semi-finals game but the Titans, the team I would root for because of how the way it impacts our city. Could we get creative and learn to see and to love both sides in a rivalry? Maybe we would get more wins in life that way.
Here are my questions on true wins, accomplishment:
1. Is accomplishment what you get done every day, your resources, your alignment to beliefs and ideologies, your friends and network, your past and present impact?
2. Is it what you leave behind? Your legacy, the things that stand after you die, your innovations and ideas, your positive impact on the future of our planet?
3. Is accomplishment what you carry with you when you die? The choices you’ve made, the kindness of your actions, your care for others? Is it your obedience to God, your relationship with your God?
A common theme reported from NDE’s (near-death experiences) all over the world is people are asked how well they loved and are judged or assessed by how they loved. Paul shares that “loving others” fulfills the entire Jewish law. Jesus teaches that loving enemies is the acid test of loving neighbors.
So let’s ask more questions to drill deeper: How are you building your business? Is it good at money generation but shallow on loving customers or teams or rivals? Is your church strong on teaching bible and weak on loving people who don’t fit your spiritual culture? How does your war or mission against injustice demonstrate a heart of compassion?
How we show love to others is not always an easy choice. Being nice isn’t necessarily being loving; sometimes love for others forces change, discomfort and conflict. Answers on how to confront our harmful differences in love are difficult. But if we aren’t making this a priority question, we will not get very far on learning how to love.
We may think love is something we leave like a legacy as we exit the page of life or conversely, something we take with us like a fat bank account of friends and future hope. Can we all agree that love is powerful and something we all need to grow in? To be good at love, to become pros, we should practice small steps in loving those most different from us. If we aren’t challenging ourselves at least a little, are we retreating from true accomplishment?
Read the first seven days of my Guide on Loving Enemies here.
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