Loyalty!?

First of all I want to apologize for the following post; it is half rant, half ramble, but all my feelings...



Whatever happened to loyalty?

As a young apprentice in the early 90's I remember going to a job site and seeing the same framers, the same plumbers, the same HVAC guys, the same painters, and we all sat down and at lunch time we all sat down together ate lunch and shared stories and the occasional cookie from home.

What happened...


...to a father going by the school to have lunch with his son?

...to a husband staying with his wife even when times get tough?

...to a job deal done with a handshake and a promise?

...to a boss stopping by to drop off doughnuts and a coke?

...to an employee that did a good job because that was his job?

...to a friend sticking it out even when you didn't agree with them?

...to humility and shame when you make a bad decision?

...to accountability?

...to LOYALTY?


Have I gotten so busy in my life that I've lost sight of the things that matter most in life? Is is just me or has the society today taken the firm stance that loyalty is for me, myself, and I? At the first sign of trouble or hardships bosses fire employees; employees quit their jobs; husbands leave their wives; wives their husbands; kids shut down and keep parents at arms length; parents shut down and keep kids at arms length?

WHY?

I turn to Proverbs 3:3-4 to remind us...

3 Never let loyalty and kindness get away from you! Wear them like a necklace; write them deep within your heart. 4 Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will gain a good reputation.


Times are going to get tough; at work, at home, with our friends, co-workers, wife, husband, kids, parents, siblings, etc...

The point is where is your loyalty? Have you lost it? Have you forgotten the importance of sticking by the side of the people you've surrounded yourself with?

If you have maybe you need to think about who you do surround yourself with. I know this; I am a loyal husband and father. I would do anything in my power to protect my family. I don't always show them my loyalty. Do you?

It's about time that this we in this country stand up and remain loyal to our families, our friends, our jobs, our churches, our country and most of all to our Living God that stood up and remained loyal to you and me. He remained loyal even knowing the consequence...

no I stand corrected HE REMAINED LOYAL BECAUSE HE KNEW THE CONSEQUENCES!!

The consequences of loyalty should be loyalty!! Try it. Go out on a limb this week and show your loyalty proudly. Stand beside someone even if it hurts a little. Align yourself with your allies that God has put in your lives.

Let's make a stand as the Christian community and say enough is enough. It's time to stop running from our responsibilities and hiding from our commitments just because we have to look deep into our hearts and maybe make a few hard changes to ourselves.

Let's take back our country where you can shake a friends hand and know that a job is going to get done for what you say it's going to cost.

Let's take back our families and show the world that you can work through tough issues as long as God is on our side.

Let's take back our children and stop the worlds indoctrination of them into how society is training them to act and feel.

Let's take back our churches and remain loyal even if one of the leaders makes a mistake.

Let's take back our workplace and do a good job even if the boss doesn't appreciate or worse yet recognize what we do for them.

Let's take back our schools and stand up for the right thing and stop "jumping off the bridge just because everyone else is doing it."


Let's stop whining about the things we can't change and start changing the only thing we can...

OURSELVES.

Begin to show loyalty to everyone God has put in your life.

If I'm right in my hypothesis, they will begin to show loyalty back. Maybe not right away and maybe not everyone every time, but we must make a stand and a commitment.



OK, so I think I'm done ranting. Sorry for the length of this post and sorry if I rambled just a little more than I should have; but I ask all of you to take few moments right now and pray...

Lord,
Where do my loyalties lie? Show me the people I need to be loyal to God; and Lord guide me in the best way that I can show them my loyalty and appreciation for them being in my life. Father God I just want to thank you for where you have me right now. I just ask for clarification to know what your will is for this stage in my life. How do I need to change so that the world around me changes. You have given me influence in the circle of people that I see and speak with; how can I be your servant and help them to know that YOU God are loyal to them. Finally I ask that if I've gotten off your chosen path for my life that you point me in the direction you need me to go to get back on course. I thank you for all you've blessed and entrusted to me.

In Your holy name we ask and pray Father God, Jesus our Savior,

Amen









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God Bless and I thank you all for your prayers and comments.

Oppressed!!!

God tries to tell me things and warn me of the devil’s plans. A lot of times He speaks to me through my wife. A lot of times, I don’t listen.

A spirit of oppression has plagued me for probably most of my life. I never recognized it until just yesterday.

Oppress is defined as: “1. to burden with cruel or unjust impositions or restraints; subject to a burdensome or harsh exercise of authority or power; 2. to lie heavily upon (the mind, a person, etc.); 3. to weigh down, as sleep or weariness does.”
Oppression is defined as: “the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner”

Yesterday was Prom Night in our little town and our oldest son being a junior wanted to go with his friends. Now being a typical teenager, he didn’t plan ahead and as a matter of fact until yesterday he wasn’t sure he was going to go because he broke up with his girlfriend. Also he made some poor money decisions and spent the majority of his last paycheck on an X-Box 360; leaving him with no money for dinner, gas and tickets to get into prom; not to mention after prom and after, after prom!! These things get so confusing!

Anyway we agreed to give him some money for the night and after I took pictures of him and his best friend my wallet opened. I gave him $40. To put this in perspective tickets for prom are $30. My wife asked about dinner, I reluctantly gave him $20 more. Than she reminded me he needed gas. Again, with a reluctant heart I gave him another $20. Why? Why was I reluctant? Why did I hesitate? Why did I pass on a spirit of oppression?

Ok, to many of you this may not seem like a huge issue except that he’s my oldest son. Prom night should be a night of excitement and a night he’ll remember forever. Did I have justification for being hesitant in giving him money due to his lack of planning? Maybe. But this one instance sums up how I’ve raised my kids…

“I’ll give this to you, but you owe me…”
“What are you going to do for me…”
“You’re not getting anything from me unless…”
“Why do you deserve it…”
“Why should I…”

I am ashamed of myself. I don’t believe I’m blatantly oppressive or cruel to my kids, but instead I “weigh them down just as weariness does.” I picked up this spirit of oppression even before I knew about spiritual matters. You see the Devil is tricky; he knows about God and he knows that God spends our life-time pursuing us. So even before we come to know our Lord, the enemy is busy planting seeds, sending out his army’s to plague our lives.

Now getting to the warning; yesterday morning my wife came to me with a verse that was laid upon her heart. Romans 12:6-10:
6 God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you. 7If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. 8If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
9 Don’t just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

Verse 8; encourage, share generously, lead responsibly, show kindness gladly.
Verse 9; Really love them, hate what is wrong.
Verse 10 Honor each other.

At work I encourage the people that work under me, I help them through mistakes they make. I always recommend a raise when their review time comes up. I take my job seriously. So why is it at home when my own flesh and blood makes a mistake, I hold a grudge; I judge them harshly and use their mistakes to justify holding back my love. Why didn’t I hear this as a warning from our Father?

Why, when my wife read these verses to me I shrugged it off and said “hmm, that’s good stuff. I’ve read that before.”

Yeah I’ve read it before; but do I really love my boys with genuine affection? When was the last time I really loved them affectionately? When was the last time I honored my family? Why do I hold them in contempt? Verse 9 tells us to hate what is wrong. I’ve taken this and ran with it, but instead of hating what is wrong, my sons think I hate them for what they have done wrong.

So, now I humbly come to all of you that read these words and to my Lord Jesus Christ; and I ask for forgiveness. As the one appointed to be the spiritual leader in my house I have failed. I have let a very wicked, devious spirit manipulate me into holding my family in contempt; I have been deceived into believing that I need to be an iron fisted leader. The only thing that I’ve done by being a rigid father is hold my boys down and instill in them fear of not doing anything right.

I now ask all of you to read Romans 12:6-21. Re-read the words and meditate on them. Lead God speak to you through these words of scripture. Let them sink into your soul so that they overflow into your life and into the lives of those around you. Don’t let the enemy of your soul oppress you or the ones you love any more. For we have been set free by our Savior!!!!

-Amen

Nathan


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God Bless and I thank you all for your prayers and comments.