A Principle of Effectiveness

 "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognised by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him." (Matthew 12:33-35)

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." (Philippians 3:10-12)

In order to leave an enduring, positive legacy we need to understand a Biblical principle of effectiveness: 

• Who we are is more important than what we achieve: what we achieve flows out of who we are.

The Father is more interested in us than what we do or achieve. He desires to live in relationship with us and to fulfil his purposes in partnership with us. Sometimes we can be so focussed on doing things for God that we neglect living in relationship with God. Living in this manner robs us of the privilege of being partners with God in the process of achieving the goals, and also prevents us from achieving all we desire to do. Failing to invest in the relationship with the Father prevents him from transforming who we are ? our character, our self-perception, our perception of others ? so that we can be all he wants us to be, and do all that he wants us to do. Jesus highlights this in the illustration of the true vine. We can only leave an enduring legacy as we live in relationship with God, allowing him to transform us from within.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." (John 15:1-6)

This principle runs contrary to those that operate in this world as this world's system values achievement more than integrity. The end justifies the means. As long as the goals are achieved, it does not matter how they are accomplished. This can be seen in the practices of politicians that use propaganda and promises in order to come to power. Once their goal of being elected has been accomplished many of the pre-election promises are pushed aside and forgotten. Also, consider an athlete who is training in order to become a record holder in a particular event. They may compromise the rules and take illegal drugs and stimulants in order to enhance their performance. Without regard for integrity, their goal is to break the record without being found out.

In both of these examples, the accomplishments are far from the ideal that they desire. The politician achieves one goal (becoming elected), but may well lose that achievement when the people who voted for him fail to see the pre-election promises met. The athlete, even if no one ever discovers that he used drugs, will always have his conscience to remind him that he cheated. The honour of winning the highest achievement will be soured by his lack of integrity.

As Christian leaders, we need to ensure that we are doing the Father's work, the Father's way. We need to be certain that we are committed to the principles of the Kingdom of God, rather than the values of this world. We may feel the pressure of other people's expectations and be tempted to produce results by taking shortcuts, and compromising our integrity. Or use guilt and manipulation in order to make people serve our purposes, instead of leading with integrity, influence and empowering. We must continually check our decisions, methods and motivation, to ensure that we are committed to fulfilling God's purposes, God's way. We must abandon the world's values, and embrace the Father's principles.

In order for this principle to become a vital reality in our lives, we need to invest in our own personal development. We need to invest in who we are: our relationship with God, our character, our integrity, our perception, our understanding, our motivations, our abilities and competence. Investing in our personal development is the key that will unlock our potential. Our achievement flows out of who we are; so as we, regularly and consistently, invest in our personal development we will enlarge our effectiveness.