W41D5 - Personal Development
Rest Stop 41

W41D6 - Team Building

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s
eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How
can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’
when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite,
first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly
to remove the speck from your brother’s eye" - Matthew 7:3-5.

These words are among Jesus' earliest and most famous in Matthew's gospel. His advice here was and is sound for anyone in any kind of relationship with anyone else - whether it be family, church, or work teams. In order to help anyone grow, develop or confront their issues (specks), one must first confront his or her issues (planks). This is important for team building, for leaders must not assume the role of superiority and authority unless they are willing to confront the areas of development that are most pressing in their own lives. If leaders don't do that, their vision is blurred when it comes to identifying issues that give them the credibility to speak into the lives of others. What's more, Jesus calls them hypocrites.

LEADERSHIP STEP: Your Step today is to see if you are guilty of hypocrisy. When there is tension on your team, do you tend to blame others and not look at the role you may be playing? How often do you say, "I was wrong, forgive me" instead of "I was wrong, but . . ." and then launch into excuses as to why you acted or spoke as you did? Is there any team dysfunction that you need to take responsibility for right now, asking team members to forgive and help you?

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