As I continue to pray and ask the Lord for how to do better at shepherding our new missionaries, the Lord has really put Ken Sande’s material “Relational Wisdom” on my heart. (www.rw360.org) As I have been going through that material the last couple days, I want to just spend some time looking for these concepts in my reading. So, while I have enjoyed doing devotionals just about whatever the Lord brings to mind from my reading, for the next little while, I want to be focused on the principles of Relational Wisdom displayed in the passages I read. So, from Ken Sande’s material, here is what I am going to be looking for:
Similar to the acrostic “JOY” which we all learned in Sunday School from that kids song, “Jesus first, yourself last, and others in between. Ken Sande uses the acrostic “SOG” (Self, Others, God). He challenges us to consider these 3 relationships to be relationally wise in all situations…
- Self-Aware: How am I feeling and acting? Ps. 42:5-6 • What am I feeling? Why? • What do I feel like doing? What are the likely consequences? • What can I do instead
- Other-Aware: How are others feeling and how am I affecting them? 1 Pet. 3:8 • What do others seem to feel? Need? Want? Fear? • How am I impacting others? • Is this really the best time to talk, counsel or correct? • How can I serve, love or forgive others?
- God-Aware: Where is God leading me? Prov. 3:5-8 * • Who is God? What is he like? What is he doing? • Am I acting in faith or unbelief? • Do I trust in him or in myself? • What difference does the gospel make? • How can I pray? What Scriptures can guide me? • How can I show that I love, trust and obey God above all things?
As I read, I am going to be looking for these 3 things. How are the characters self-aware? How are they other-aware? What does the passage say about God that helps us in relating to one another?
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