I wrote mid term to you about the Term 1 Principal Advisory that focused in on personal renewal, reflection and a reorientation opportunity for our leaders. The theme of the presenter was, as I shared at the time, ‘Good to Great’.
I also promised at that time to share back a snapshot of that theme, of our, my, reflections coming from those two days together as leaders; so here goes.
Good to great is all about being called to live abundantly.
Jesus calls us to live life abundantly in Him. We are not called simply to be adequate, average or acceptable. Rather in John 10:10 we are explicitly called to have an abundant life. Not affluent, abundant.
Affluence is associated with accumulation and hoarding.
Abundance is about being full to overflowing; my cup runneth over, I have much to share. Abundance is living beyond ourselves to the betterment of others. Having the ability to give more, do more and be more to those around us.
Abundance is selfless, not selfish. Abundance is moving, from good to great.
Good to great is about giving. Of seeing beyond ourselves. Of using our overflow, to add value to others. Like a spillway on a dam, sharing the abundant water with the farmers below.
Moving into abundance, from good to great, is a choice. The choice to fit the oxygen mask of life on yourself first, to make sure you are prepared to keep running into the flames like a fireman doing all they can do to save property and lives. They commit to the task, by preparing for the task. They pursue the goal, by equipping themselves to reach that goal.
Choosing great lets us give more, do more, be more to those around us. If we are to be the generation that ‘finishes the work’, then living abundantly, turning good into great, well, it comes to those choices, our choices, your choices, my choices, that lift us from good to great.
Our choices matter. We finish the work, through revealing Jesus, by being the bridge. Good to great is a choice.
Caring for your health is a choice.
Prioritising and valuing relationships is a choice.
Focusing on being Heaven’s ambassador is a choice.
Seeking Him first each morning is a choice.
Pursuing abundance is a choice.
Giving is a choice.
It’s all choice.
Every good to great; no matter the context, is a choice. These past 10 weeks of Term 1 2023 have been flat out: as they always are. You have given much, you have done much, you have been many things, to many people.
As we approach not just the Term 1 break, but commencing with the Easter celebration of Christ’s love gift to us, let it be a time that is all about renewal, reconnecting and reflection. Let Easter be a time of personal, not professional, development.
Know that good to great is all about your choices: and your choices create your legacy.
Let your legacy be one of abundance and let Easter be your marker stone of starting to make these choices.
Start with Good.
Go for,
Great.
This word of encouragement for Christian educators was written by Dean Bennetts, and distributed in The Bridge newsletter in 2023. Dean is the CEO of Adventist Education in North New South Wales, Australia.
