Few things say fall to me like football - admittedly it is my favorite season of the year on several fronts - in addition to football it's also the season when you can bow-hunt whitetail deer in Ohio - and in my innermost being I'm still optimistic that the Red's might make a run at the fall classic.
But beyond the bonfires and festivities of fall - there's something about families settling back into their communities, schools, work, and church after summer that is very appealing to me as well - in this age of instantaneous social media I think it's increasingly easy to take one another for granted - to expect relationships to stay strong without too much discipline.
When fall rolls in I am reminded anew that great football traditions and successful whitetail hunters and world championship baseball teams have at least one thing in common - each of them are very disciplined in the fundamentals of their games - some call it old school but more accurately I would call it proven school.
Proven school is that methods may change but fundamentals for optimal outcomes never do - the Bible affirms this formula for successful living when it tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8) - and therein lies our hope for stronger relationships with one another.
While seasons and methods change the values and virtues of our Lord and Savior never do - and so rather than take one another for granted with the often limited touch of social media - I am recommending that we relearn the discipline of relationship building in all seasons in our communities, school, work, and church.
Consider this - the outcomes we respect the most on the gridiron and in the hunting blind and at Great American ballpark all find their origin in consistent discipline which is in fact the very nature of Jesus Christ - that's why Jesus calls all people to be His disciples.
Consistently modeling the behavior of Jesus is to deeply invest in personal relationships with others within our sphere of influence in all seasons - no one has changed less and loved others more than Jesus - so let's look to him this fall and in all seasons and be more disciplined in strengthening our personal relationships.
As I look to do that - please know I'll be rooting for the Red's and the Madeira Mustangs and the Ball State Cardinals (go DH) and for THE Ohio State University Buckeyes to all enjoy success - and for whitetail hunters everywhere to thin the population of deer with respect to the driving safety of all.
But most of all I will be rooting for you and me - I want us to be disciplined and to remain connected to Christ Jesus our Savior and Lord - to consistently share His unchanging values and virtues with our family and community and work and school and church.
No one has changed less and loved others more than Jesus - if ever I would be found quote worthy please know you can quote me on that - no one has changed less and loved others more than Jesus - let's continue to model His discipline and fundamentals this fall and in all seasons.
God's Peace,
Jeff
In Him there is no shadow of turning (James 1:17), whether it is a personal turning, or the shifting shadows during a day, or the shortening days during fall and winter.
ReplyDelete"No one has changed less and loved others more than Jesus" - I like that! And that is a worthy aspiration, part of becoming Christ-like.