Wednesday, May 15, 2019

day no. 14,814: reaping and sowing in relational fruitfulness

Galatians 6:7
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

2 Corinthians 9:6
Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 

Luke 6:38
Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you

The following excerpt is taken from Stephen Covey's "7 Habits of Highly Effective People"

The Farm is a natural system. The price must be paid and the process followed. You always reap what you sow; there is no shortcut.

This principle is also true, ultimately, in human behavior, in human relationships. They, too, are natural systems based on the law of the harvest. In the short run, in an artificial social system such as school, you may be able to get by if you learn how to manipulate the man-made rules, to "play the game." In most one-shot or short-lived human interactions, you can use the Personality Ethic to get by and to make favorable impressions through charm and skill and pretending to be interested in other people's hobbies. You can pick up quick, easy techniques that may work in short-term situations. But secondary traits alone have no permanent worth in long-term relationships. Eventually, if there isn't deep integrity in the fundamental character strength, the challenges of life will cause true motives to surface and human relationship failure will replace short-term success.

Many people with secondary greatness---that is, social recognition for their talents---lack primary greatness or goodness in their character. Sooner or later, you'll see this in every long-term relationship they have, whether is is with a business associate, a spouse, a friend, or a teenage child going through an identity crisis. It is character that communicates most eloquently. As Emerson once put it, "What you are shouts so loudly in my ears I cannot hear what you say."

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