John Maxwell wrote “You need to improve yourself. You’re not good enough to stay the

same.” Eureka moment! Think about yourself and where you’re at in life. Are you okay

with the same? We all need to continue to grow whether it’s mentally, physically, or

spiritually. We can decide to become better continually or stay stagnant.

“When you make yourself more valuable, you can give more value to others and increase

your relational capacity.” – John Maxwell

I believe we serve a God who is all about relationships. He is a God of love. Love

yourself, love others. It’s quite simple.

Now, if you have a hard time loving yourself, you will have a hard time loving others or

adding value to them. How can you secretly dislike yourself or others and then try to

build them up? You cannot. When I read this it hit me like a brick! We can easily hide

behind a mask of “everything is great” and love is abundant. But false sense of

relationships will not take you anywhere.

We need people around us to talk to, to serve, and add value to. As this happens they will

also build you up and help you go further. Who’s in your inner circle? Who can you talk

to that will truly listen, give instruction, help with your ideas or thoughts? If you want to

see who you will be in a few years just look at your friends. Choose your closest friends

wisely. Iron sharpens iron. 

Keep company with the wise and you will become wise. If you make friends with stupid

people, you will be ruined. Prov 13:20

I am the type of person who has a lot of questions. I am truly grateful for my husband

Hank as he is so full of wisdom and I love his insight. He always plays the advocate and

sometimes I get upset, so does he, but we learn from each others views and values. We

don’t stay upset long.

We need to focus on our strengths as well as others strengths. Too much time is placed

on weaknesses. Why do we want to place so much emphasis on weakness when we have

so many strengths? I believe one of my strengths is to encourage people and make them

feel safe. One of my weaknesses is organizing my home. Well, I enjoy one and not the

other. I love people but find it difficult to just organize things without shuffling stuff to a

different area. Guess what? Not going to sweat the small stuff. I guarantee you that if

you come to my home you will be welcomed and safe, even if there is stuff on the

counters! Get the picture? So now back to improving ourselves. I will take more time

organizing because that stretches me. Personal growth is something I strive for, in every

area.

Take some time to see what your true strengths are and grow. Remember, when you

make yourself more valuable, you will be more valuable to others.