CAUTION! Install mouth filter before speaking...

is anyone out there an extrovert like me, that processes thoughts out loud for all to hear? how has that worked out for you?

for years, it put me at a huge disadvantage in ministering to people, leading people, and just communicating clearly. especially when the receptor(s) is an introvert, processing most every detail internally. i have been accused of being brash, harsh, opinionated, insensitive, a poor listener, overbearing, excitable, random, and at times a total jerk. for these accusations i stand guilty as charged, but God is helping me to discover a way to embrace who i am and still avoid the carnage.

i call it a mouth filter. it starts with my thoughts and meditations and ends with the abundance of my heart flowing out of my lips, but only after they have had the "Brita" treatment.

three questions. three steps. that lead to more healthy and considerate speech.

MOTIVE . BENEFIT . NEED

what is my MOTIVE for saying this? to bring attention or recognition to myself and my experiences or to encourage and build someone else up?

who or what will my words, if said, truly BENEFIT? are they beneficial to anyone other than myself?

do these words really NEED to be said? what will happen if they are not? what will happen if they are?

this is a filter i have been led to start applying before i say pretty much anything. it accomplishes so many things, not least of which is that it forces me to slow down in my responsiveness and forces me to weigh my words and their impact before they are said.

i have found that taking words back before they are said is more feasible than retrieving them once they have been released!

what is your experience with words - your own and others towards you? Craig Groeschel has a couple great posts on the swerve blog this week regarding the power of our words.

i'd especially love to hear from fellow extroverts, or others who have been left reeling in the wake of our words.

value-based visioneering

what determines and motivates your vision? how do you know when things are getting blurry? are the people you lead getting cataracts trying to stay focused on it?

lately, I have become convicted that as I receive vision from God, I need to embrace and distribute it within the framework of the convictions He has also given to me. that is, what values are non-negotiables in my life and ministry? what in my life have I been convicted about beyond any doubt to hold fast to at any cost?

I am learning that God will give us fresh vision to test and train our sensitivity and to see if we will stay true to our convictions. if He is calling you to extend your ministry's reach to the nations, do you pack up your stuff and your family and head off to Zimbabwe or do you filter this new vision through the convictions He has instilled in you?

how will this impact your family, your current ministry, the fulfillment of your life calling. maybe there is another way to accomplish this without you personally going to the mission field. maybe God is calling you to stick to your value of developing people and is calling you to equip and train others to go to the nations, quite possibly with greater effectiveness than you would ever realize. or maybe He is calling you to go yourself, if it fits in the framework of your God-given convictions.

can our convictions change? I guess that may depend on what they are grounded in.

one thing is for sure, God desires humility and integrity. the vision is not ours anymore than our convictions are self-invoked. we must look to Him and depend upon Him for both and operate as if they come from the same source.

we can not be called to be a husband and father (or wife and mother) and then take a vision to create life transforming ministry and allow the pursuit of that vision to sacrifice our marriage and family on its altar! if God convicts us that as His children we must reflect His priorities in all of our relationships, especially in those with the ones closest to us, then we must make sure that any vision we have is never allowed to compromise that value.

I say start with the values that God wants to be uniquely and strongly adhered to in your life and then pray for fresh vision that supports and undergirds those values. we can not operate in a realm of visioneering that devalues our convictions and we can not lead forward with a vision that has no clear values as its foundation.