The other day, one of my closest friends mentioned that since I started He’s the Solution, my everyday actions and words have taken on a more ethical and transparent tenor. She said that it wasn’t that I had been dishonest or unethical before, but that I’m more honest and forthright than I was when she knew me in Salt Lake.
I thought about that the rest of the night. Although it was a compliment, it was also a comment that shone a huge spotlight on my past.
I admit, I have stepped in some gray matter over the years, pushed some questionable envelopes, and jumped through some doctrine-challenged loopholes. I did this because I got too big for my britches in business and felt immortal.
It is because of this pride, I believe God allowed me to climb to the absolute apex of success and wealth and then subsequently allowed me to tumble and fall to rock bottom. He wanted me to see that the trajectory of my life was not in the direction or plan He had in store for me.
It was a hard lesson and it took some time to get to a place that He’s the Solution finally could be created and nurtured. However, since I’ve started it, my friend is right… little by little, my heart and subsequent actions have changed. I found my mission, and God gave me the heart and mind to serve it.
Howard Zinn, the historian, said it this way: “Revolutionary change does not come as one cataclysmic moment (beware of such moments!) but as an endless succession of surprises, moving zig-zag towards a more decent society.” Or, in my case, a more decent me.
So, let me ask you, Are You The Only Bible Your Friends are Reading?
You can also think of it this way. Your life may be the only Bible someone reads. I think back to those prideful years and feel bad that I may have been the only Bible, the only example of Christianity, for some of the people I met and did business with. What a waste of time and God’s word.
I encourage us all to live the example we want to see and as the only Bible our associates, family, friends, and colleagues will ever read. I guarantee if we do, we won’t have to try to be ethical and transparent. It will just come naturally.