Discipline works from the inside out, and punishment tries to work from the outside in.
Typically, people allow differences and mistakes to lower their respect and value for other people. But you know the pillar of honor is strong in a relationship when you can look at the other person and say, “You are really different from me. It makes me sad when I see you making that choice. But I love you. I value you, I believe in you, and I am here for you in this relationship.
One of the symptoms of being free is you begin to dream.
Powerful people do not try to control other people. They know it doesn't work, and that it's not their job. Their job is to control themselves.
The First Goal of Conversation: Understanding, not Agreement
Each believer comes to understand his or her significance in relationship to the whole Body, and the conviction begins to take hold: “I carry something that no one else carries. I must develop and release my gifts into the Church and the world and do my part in bringing Heaven to earth. ” Honor empowers people.
The more others encounter us honoring the boundaries we have set for our lives, the more they will know that they can trust us with their lives.
This is because fear and love are enemies. They come from two opposing kingdoms. Fear comes from the devil, who would like nothing more than to keep you permanently disconnected and isolated. Love comes from God, who is always working to heal and restore your connection with Him and other people and bring you into healthy, life-giving relationships.
Powerful people can love without being loved back.
No one else can steward the fire inside of you because only you are in charge of it.
If you want to make a difference, then get good at doing something and not just talking about something
Yes, it's vulnerable and scary to keep your love on toward someone who has become a perceived threat-you cannot guarantee what he or she is going to do. But you can guarantee your own choice. And you can always choose connection.
Every problem must find it's owner before we can ever offer a solution
Jesus defied all of these rules. He taught in the outer courts of the Temple so women could join the audience.
Jesus literally sliced through years of rabbinical law and cultural norms with the extreme love of God that sees the treasure in every human heart.
In order to be able to make and keep commitments. . . to enduring, intimate relationships. . . you need to be a certain kind of person. You need to be a powerful person. Powerful people take responsibility for their lives and choices. Powerful people choose who they want to be with, what they are going to pursue in life, and how they are going to go after it.
If we don't know how to deal with sin then we don't know how to deal with people.
In being vulnerable, we reach for our greatest need while risking our greatest pain.