Value Your Freedom

We went to a pizza place today and was delighted to be able to avail of a good deal on a meal. I got a super sized slice and a large drink for 99 pesos.  Compared to many pizza prices, this was inexpensive and the pizza was excellent!

I am reminded of how Christ saved us.  In order to set us free from sin, he bailed us out with His very own life!  Unlike the pizza, our freedom is expensive! We are indeed "dear" to God.  God thought we were worth the heartache of seeing His only begotten Son suffer and die to buy us from death.  Everytime we see the cross, we should be reminded of the price God paid for our liberation.

Knowing this, how are we valuing our freedom in Christ? Since we have been bought by His blood, we are no longer bound by sin.  But there times we act as if we have not been liberated.  We keep on going back to that cell, imprisoning ourselves even with the knowledge that Christ can set us free. Let us be remided of the following:

Christ on the Cross by Francisco de Zurbarán

1. Let us not take the cross for granted, our freedom did not come cheap.
2. Let us value the freedom of our new life in Christ, which is the best life anyone can ever live.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. John 3:16

 

The Value of Starting Small

Those who think big know the value of starting small.  We can launch something massively, but risk failing massively as well. And it's hard to pick up the pieces.  We can never undervalue the practice of prototyping. With prototyping or sampling, comes the challenge of being patient, observant, and diligent.

Do you have a big idea? How long then will it take you to make a prototype or organize a sample group? Do you plan on writing a book? When will you start making the first chapter of that book and let your friends give a feedback?  Do you want to write a song? Then write down the first line and hum the first couple of notes.

Are there big decisions that paralyze us? One who feels the call to priesthood starts off first with a vocation retreat or a search-in.  One who wishes to invest big in business starts off first selling a few samples. Our paralysis can be overcome by doing small steps that will help us feel that it is the right direction to go.  Praying daily can help us discover where God is leading us, rather than just praying one time big time and plunging into the decision right away.

With a small group or sample, we can adjust, correct, and improve. When it's time to replicate, much of the lessons have already been learned and the success rate is higher. 

We notice that Jesus spent much of his time with his 12 apostles. In his 3 years of public life, he never went as far as 100 miles from his home. Yet, look at how globally spread Christianity has become. God even sampled the Israelites, His chosen people, for all of us to learn from.  

Achieve great things by patiently starting small.

The Value of Evaluation

To step back and evaluate is an act of humility. Whether personal, family, or business, there are things that seemed so right when we were planning and implementing years ago. After many activities and observations, we have to do some aligning and correcting. Evaluation is a painful process. It is more comfortable to just keep doing what we are doing.
If we do not evaluate, we face the following dangers:


A. The danger of recurring patterns of wrong systems and behavior.

Patterns are hard to break specially if coming from a strong precedence of habit and sets of responses.

Evaluate on the faithfulness to our vision, mission, values, and goals. Disrupt and align through new leadership or having willingness to adapt to new systems.


B. The danger of a decline in effectiveness and performance.

We can do things efficiently but towards the wrong goals and direction. We end up getting tired, like running a marathon without the idea where the finish line is.

Evaluate on efficiently doing the right things which result in increased effectiveness.


C. The danger of doing a series of half-baked programs.

To go on to the next activity without realizing the learnings from the previous one will leave a trace of unrefined templates. We will be producing half-baked programs.

Evaluate on re-implementing the activity with the revisions and enhancements. Re-evaluate again and re-implement until the optimum result is achieved.

Evaluate basically means "to fix the value or worth." To revisit the value of what we do is important. We cannot be good evaluators if we are on a defensive stance. We must be open and think of the higher objectives. The key is to be humble, so more value will be added to what we do.