February 24. Is There a "Y" In Your Company, Family or Church Name?

Every day we have things that come into our realm and leave our realm, our sphere of influence. In our businesses, it is resources in, then we apply more resources and then a product or service goes out. In our lives, it is the same thing.

We use resources and then the results or byproducts of those processes are used, sold, or disposed of. But the impact of what is going to be accomplished with that process of transforming resources is determined by our purpose or why bother statement.

Why is it that a business, let us say being an attorney, a legal service, exists? Is it going to help people to manipulate the law, a jury, or a judge? Would it be helping people to get what they do not deserve? That does not sound like the type of firm that I would want to represent me.

Why would you take the resources of people and use them in the practice of law? I would want my attorney to uphold the intent of the law in my legal matters. I want to be a law-abiding citizen not a manipulating citizen.

Maybe if we consider our present situation, we might find a picture of our own unique why. Do your employees in your company know the company’s purpose? How can we be delivering a consistent value if it is not known? The vision of our why should provide clarity to our business.

What is the first thing you can do this week to confirm that you know your why?

Our ability to define our why helps to shape our lives. We are all different so our why's are not going to be the same. That is an exciting element but so is the fact that although we are different, we will share some of the same in our why's as a people of faith.

Christ taught in the Bible in Mark 7:18 what I like to consider to be a "why" lesson. He begins to tell the leaders of the time that their rituals of eating certain foods is not what defiles you. It is the matters of the heart that defile us.

A few of the matters of the heart that he mentioned were greed, envy, slander, pride, deceit, and theft. These matters are issues of "why." If we are using our resources of time, labor, and those of employees to deceive others then our actions are not honoring Christ.

If we allow our businesses to deceive then they will not honor Christ either. We, as a people of faith, are moving away in our relationship with Christ Jesus if our actions are not consistent with the why that he taught. How might you want to realign your actions with the "why" of Christ's message.

What is the first thing you can do about it in the next seven days?

Let us pray, Heavenly Father, you know our why's. Sometimes we have allowed our hearts to realign the why almost daily. You know when they are consistent with the call to love that you have given.

We know and you know that we fall short so many times as we sin, but we ask that your Holy Spirit help to guide us. Share with us when our why has become distorted. Keep the people strong in our lives that can support us to live out the why of Christ. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen,