When we are given responsibility at work, we need to receive it with a sense of responsibility. If we treat it well, as if it were our own, it will bear fruit.

When we protect the areas, we are given with integrity and excellence, they will prosper. The byproduct of this is that we will actually be blessed by what we protect. He who guards the tree will eat of its fruit. Not only will that nourish and grow us it is accompanied with honour, but this also builds our reputation which in turn grows our capacity and opportunity.

We are called to be responsible regardless of the size of the task we are given. As we are faithful with the little, we are given more; it is a spiritual law with natural consequences.

Plus, as we operate in a spirit of protection, we will be given more responsibility because we will be deemed trustworthy by God and man.

Quick Prayer: Give me a spirit of preservation and protection. Amen.

Who keeps you sharp? Who do you have in your life that you trust—whom you can “do life with”? We all need people who love God who can keep us sharp.

Leaders in particular can become very isolated and insular. We have to ensure we are actively looking at ways to address this deficit, in order to be at our best.

Often in our busy lives those relationships have drifted away or may not even exist. Ask God today to bring someone into your life or reacquaint yourself with a true friend. Why not schedule in some time to stay sharp with good company?

Be careful of a life with many acquaintances and no true friends. We all need some accountability. In order to gain true friendship, we need to be a true friend. As in any relationship, we will only get out what we put in. Investing in friendship is a sure way to surround yourself with great friends.

Quick Prayer: Lead me to people who I can trust, Lord. Amen.

“Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.” (Pro 12:11)

It is easy to forget that God is our Father, and like all good fathers, He will bring correction and discipline from time to time. This is often manifested in difficult circumstances or a word from someone else. How should we react to these events?

Getting before God to understand what adjustments He wants to make in us is a good start. We can be thankful that we have a loving Father who wants the best for us. Our position in receiving discipline and correction will determine our ultimate altitude in life and our walk with Him.

Let us not believe our own press and see our worldly leadership role as some sort of abdication of our responsibility to continue to grow and hear from God.

If you keep getting a “Why am I here again?” feeling, you may not have learned the lesson yet.

Quick Prayer: I need Your correction in my life, Lord. Help me to be aware. Amen.

“He who corrects a mocker invites insult. He who reproves a wicked man invites abuse. Don’t reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise man, and he will love you.” (Pro 9:7-8)

Leaders have an obligation to unlock and realise the potential of those under their authority. They do that through serving, guiding and encouraging, but also through challenging and stretching. Every so often we need to reprove, correct and bring discipline.

Sometimes as Christians we are reluctant to engage in this way. I think that is more as a result of an error in Christian culture rather than a true Biblical understanding. Being ‘nice’ is not Christian, if it is an abdication of our responsibility to confront, reprove and correct. Yes, it must be done with Godly wisdom, and in a spirit of reconciliation and service to the individual involved. But done it must be.

Notice the reaction here is not related to the rebuke, but to the character of the recipient. Obviously, that is assuming it is done in a wise and reasonable way, by someone fully aware of their own need for grace. The wise will respect and respond to the reproof, the mocker and scoffer will not. Sometimes discernment of character ahead of time will avoid unnecessary confrontation.

Quick Prayer: Help me to see who is wise and who is not and give me the courage to correct when led by you. Amen.

Regardless of our position we are all responsible to someone. Even as a business owner you have the ultimate arbiter of your success, your customer.

I hate discipline. When God is working on something in my life, those adjustments are sometimes not easy. However, as we respond to those things, God begins to talk to us, reveal more of Himself, and make known more of His character and ways. Sometimes we miss out on His blessings because we resist His correction.

These corrections are always for a purpose. He will often highlight a behavior because it may well cause us to stumble down the track. He doesn’t do it for His entertainment but for our greater good.

His promise is to “pour out His thoughts.” Imagine that—thinking the thoughts of God.

Quick Prayer: Thank You that there is wisdom after a rebuke. Amen.