Part 2 – How to Become a OneTRUTH Leader
Yesterday I started laying out steps to become a OneTRUTH Leader. We started with self-examination, continued with defining our purpose, and finished with talking about seeking the real power within each of us. We also addressed the role of change in this process.
As promised, we will continue today talking about what needs changing. I don’t know about you, but I am tired of all the strife and conflict, the malicious messiness of the world in which we live. Everywhere you look you see division and violence, intolerance, and insensitivity. People are easily offended by the slightest things, and way over-dramatic. We lack filters and boundaries, empathy is non-existent. And this is the short list. Do I need to go further with what needs changing?
I outlined several steps to take in bringing about change in the world, small incremental changes that can add up to much more. The real problem is the need to act, not just talk about the change we believe we need in the world. Change is neither easy nor comfortable. Complaining without action is the excuse we give ourselves for not being responsible. It is easy. It requires little action, feels good now, removes responsibility, and excuses poor performance on your part.?You do not have to be part of the solution.?Complaints are often the companion of pointing out faults in others, the lack of fairness, and what is wrong in the world.
It is much more difficult to find solutions, to act to solve a problem.?The real question needs to be “What are we going to do about it?” What specific steps need to be taken to make the situation better? There are a few easy solutions. To learn, grow, and become better we all need to give a level of action. Change will not happen on its own. It requires active participation.
The next crucial step in becoming a OneTRUTH Leader is defining the need. I have just begun to un-pack this one. The focus is on asking questions, the right questions asked in the right way, followed up with active listening, and even more questions. Where then is the need? The very nature of change is that we cannot stay where we are, we must venture into something new. Change is a natural process that happens due to biology, time, and encounters with others. Some changes are the result of biology and the passage of time, within the natural cycle or order of things. Other changes are self-generated, manmade, under our control and the results of willful effort.
If we do not change, change will be forced upon us. By our very nature, change is the one thing we fear the most, but desire constantly. Often it is because we focus on the wrong things. We focus most on what we cannot change and not enough on those things we can. We are often heartsick because of deferred hope, which results from trying to control what’s outside our control. Discipline yourself to work on things that are in your sphere of influence.
The next step I will share today is in our decision to try something, anything that takes us forward. ?The TRUTH is…every accomplishment must start with the decision to try! Without some form of commitment, without a start, without some type of plan in mind, how can we expect to accomplish anything in life. The first step towards any achievement begins when we decide to make an initial effort – to simply try without overthinking it. It highlights how all progress in life flows from driving past hesitation and excuses and getting started. I share, in my full program, the names of several ordinary people who accomplished extraordinary things with just the motivation to try to make a difference. Often without a plan, without thinking.
Tomorrow I will continue this summary by tackling some of the methods of change we might try but before closing I would like to tackle one last thing. I realized that I did not, in my enthusiasm, do a very good job of describing what a OneTRUTH Leader is.
A OneTRUTH Leader is someone who seeks and applies the authority of God acting in the world. Someone who is seeking the OneTRUTH of God. I’m not asking anyone to understand or even believe all that I am about to share, but you must at least believe that there is evil in the world. There is just too much evidence to try and prove otherwise.
This is what leads to lies and destruction, prohibits us from seeing TRUTH, and keeps us from realizing our full intended potential. So, believe this if nothing else. OneTRUTH Leaders are not perfect, and cannot solve every problem on their own, but they understand the power at their disposal and are learning how to tap into it. OneTRUTH Leaders are working to use the power of the universe to discern and use TRUTH for the good of all.
This gets pretty deep so hold on tight for the ride. The fundamental issue underlying the fall of man in the Garden of Eden was authority. God’s “chain of command” was clearly reversed in the fall, for the creature (the serpent) led the woman, and the woman led the man. Nevertheless, the?foundational issue in the fall of man in the Garden of Eden (for Eve at least)?was the issue of TRUTH.?Who spoke the TRUTH, God or Satan? Who was to be believed? Who was to be obeyed? The answers to these questions depend upon who was thought to be speaking the TRUTH.
Satan took the form of a serpent, a created being. He began by questioning God’s command regarding the eating of the fruit of the trees of the garden. He distorted the command, and in so doing implied that God was withholding much that was desirable. By inference, He raised a question concerning the goodness of God. “How could God be good and withhold so much that is good?” Finally, he virtually calls God a liar by assuring Eve, “You shall surely not die!”?(Genesis 3:4). And so, Eve must choose who to believe—who is telling the truth. Eve made the wrong choice.?God is the source of TRUTH; Satan is the source of lies and deception, the source of all evil in the world today.