Monday Morning Mini-Series – Staff Value #4
Good Monday Morning everyone! I’m sorry things have been a little sluggish here on the blog. Cross Point is in the middle of a big initiative called Chapter 2, so I’ve been a little distracted.
Today it’s time to continue our staff values series…
Cross Point Staff Value #4
Believe the Best – we are intentional about protecting our relationships with one another.
This is one of my favorite staff values and also one of the most difficult ones. The relational health of a team will make or break an organization, and rest assured the enemy is looking for ways to sever the trust and unity of a strong team.
Let me share a story with you of ‘believe the best’ in action within our team:
Recently a staff person was bragging about me in front of some of the other team members. I was a little uncomfortable with the attention, so out of my insecurity I deflected the attention and inadvertently made fun of something that that staff member was involved in. After I’d regrouped and quit focusing so much on myself I realized what I had done and felt horrible! I immediately went to this staff member and apologized for demeaning something he was a part of while he was praising me! What a double whammy!
Do you know what his response was?
“Oh, I never even took it that way!”
He believed the best of me. It didn’t even cross his mind to take my comment offensively! What a gift. While my intention was never to offend him, the way I said what I said could have. It would have been really easy for him to jump to that conclusion and take offense. But it never even crossed his mind! He believed the best.
Believing the best is choosing to believe what is most true about one another. Essentially we’ve challenged each other to not jump to wrong conclusions, but to extend the benefit of the doubt and give grace for moments of misunderstanding or gaps of information.
Believing the best does not mean ignoring sin or avoiding healthy Matthew 18 confrontation. It just means extending grace and God-honoring love.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” I Corinthians 13:4-7
It is an incredible gift when someone truly believes the best about you. I’m always blown away by it when it happens.
Have you ever had someone believe the best in you even when you didn’t deserve it?
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