00:00:00 Thanks for joining me on episode 637 of the inspired stewardship podcast. I'm Andy Purdue Olson from leading better together. I encourage you to find the courage to lead in ministry. Well, and one way to be inspired to do that is by listening to this, the inspired stewardship podcast with my friend, Scott Mader, But it's important if you want to do good that you listen to the other people,
00:00:36 you stand up for injustice, you stand up for those who cannot stand for themselves. You recognize the fact that the world is not the same for all of us, and you listen carefully to hear the experiences of others. Welcome, and thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcasts. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be,
00:01:01 then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true calling and the inspired stewardship podcast, who will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world. In today's spiritual foundation episode about investing in yourself. I talk with you about Romans chapter seven, verses 15 through 19,
00:01:33 how we can really want to do good, but still not do it anyway, and how to stay on track to really do good in the world. Anyway, Paul's letter to the Romans in chapter seven, there's a long passage where it's clear that Paul is really struggling with himself. Struggling with his own mind has unbelief and his own actions in chapter seven,
00:02:01 verse 15. It says, I do not understand my own actions for, I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now, if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good, but in fact, it is no longer that I do it. But sin that dwells within me for,
00:02:21 I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is in my flesh. I can, will, what is right? But I cannot do it for, I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. You know, that passage and that chapter is one of those things that I've reflected on a lot over the years,
00:02:44 because the truth is, I think most of us want to do good for each other. We want to help other people. I think most of us are good at heart, but the problem is that there is sin within all of us that separates from God. And in that separation, we have a hard time knowing what is the right thing to do?
00:03:08 You know, as a coach, I work with tons of people. And so I'm exposed to a lot of different people from different backgrounds, with different mindsets that have grown up in different ways. They've had different opportunities, different challenges, people that have mental illness, people that have extreme opportunity and things that have been given to them that give them chances that others do not have.
00:03:32 And yet all of these people are often struggling to work and do good and serve others. We all have that fundamental desire to do good. We want to do good. And yet all too often, we end up instead being selfish, serving our own needs, looking at reality in a very self centered way where we think the opportunities that we've had, the experiences we've had,
00:04:01 everything that we've had is the way that everyone else sees the world. You know, the truth is we can actually see different realities in the world because we have different experiences. We have different histories. We have things that have separated us from each other and from God that block us and keep us from doing the good that we want all too often. That struggle is real.
00:04:29 I mean, think about it. If you're honest with yourself and think about it, you have things that you have not done. And with reflection, you recognize that you have not done all of the good that you could for others. And it doesn't even just have to be strangers. It can be family. There are times that I've seen spouses fight.
00:04:50 Not because they really don't agree, but because they haven't learned how to get on the same page and communicate about their wants and their needs all too often, we try to take care of each other in a way that doesn't actually allow us to become closer to each other. Instead, we do things that come across as selfish. You know, one of the things that I've pointed out before is all too often in our own heads.
00:05:16 Since we know our own intent, we know what we meant behind our action. We assume that everyone else sees that same intent. And when others do something, because we can't really judge their intent, we have a tendency to instead a scribe, something to that behavior. That really isn't real. I mean, the simplest example is if you're driving to work and suddenly something happens and it causes you to swerve a little bit and go in front of the car and the lane next to you,
00:05:48 you excused yourself. You know that your intent was not to cut them off, but you know, you dropped something and you swerved and it happened. You think to yourself, Oh, I'm so glad I'm safe. I'm so glad the other person is safe. I I'm, I can't understand why they honked at me and got mad. Didn't they know that it was an accident,
00:06:07 but yet when that situation is reversed and someone cuts you off, you get angry, you feel mad, you feel justified in that anger, because look at that idiot, they put their life at risk and your life at risk as well. Didn't they know better, even though it may have just been just as much of an accident without any intention. They,
00:06:27 after the Asley may not have even seen you there. And that's what caused it to happen. That's a simplistic example, but the truth is all too often, we get tied up in our own head. We get tied up in our own view. We see the world only through our own lens. So the truth is if you really want to do all of the good that you can,
00:06:49 if you want to get away from doing the things that you actually hate and regret one of the best ways, one of the most important things you can do is actually talk to other people about what it is that they need. Listen to them when they share their experiences and their need, not trying to come and convince them that they should see the world the way you do,
00:07:14 but instead to truly listen to them and move yourself towards the way they see the world, you need to be able to hear people with an open mind. You need to be able to ask questions and have a dialogue, get past anger and judgment and into kindness and listening. But the truth is that that's really hard to do. If somebody doesn't agree with you politically,
00:07:41 it's easy to think that they're just wrong and have shut down. You're listening. If someone doesn't agree with you about an issue or concern or something that you have, it's so easy to shut your ears and stop listening. And trust me, I understand there are times that I hear things from people that is just so against anything that I believe is true,
00:08:02 that it becomes almost impossible for me to listen to them and not immediately begin to judge them. I do it too. We all do, but it's important if you want to do good that you listen to the other people, you stand up for injustice, you stand up for those who cannot stand for themselves. You recognize the fact that the world is not the same for all of us.
00:08:29 And you listen carefully to hear the experiences of others. And then you ask them, what is it that I can do that would help you, that would make more good in the world? What is it that I can do that would help move you into a relationship with God? And if you're doing that, then truly you are doing all of the good that you can do.
00:08:55 Thanks For listening. Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship podcast, as a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively, listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoy this episode, do me a favor, go over to facebook.com/inspired stewardship and like our Facebook page and market that you'd like to get notifications from us so that we can connect with you on Facebook and make sure that we're serving you to the best of our abilities with time and tips there until next time,
00:09:46 invest your time, your talent and your treasures, develop your influence and impact the world..