Recently I was coaching one of my client’s team members who was fairly new in her role as receptionist. We were discussing how a receptionist can often be overlooked when it comes to setting goals for the business. Then I proceeded to describe how the use of headlines can motivate us. It can take a goal and make it personal when we don’t see how we contribute. For example, here’s how a receptionist can impact an overall client satisfaction score for the business - “Olivia greeted every client by name and even had their preferred drink waiting for them.” I challenged her to think of what she would want said about her at the end of the year. Writing the right headline can be a personalized motivator throughout the year.
While this can be useful in the work setting, I also think we as Christians can ask God on a regular basis what “headlines” he has in store for us. Our headlines don’t always have to be big or dramatic like we see in the news. Simple headlines can be the most powerful in God’s eyes. “Joe was patient in traffic.” “Sarah was kind to the upset employee at the store.” “Ben was sensitive to promptings of the Holy Spirit.” Often we don’t think enough about how God sees us. Yet he’s watching us all the time. Nothing we do or think escapes him. Instead, we’re often focused on how everyone else sees us except him. We wonder if our photos on Facebook are getting enough likes? Or are people going to come to our party? Or will we get noticed by our boss at the end of the project and get recognized?
God’s perspective is much different and also longer term. You might say he has an “eternal” perspective. He’s working in us so we’ll be a reflection of his son Jesus. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke numerous headlines over the people. They were actually presented as a teaching, but we could easily interpret them as personal headlines for how we want to live. “Chris didn’t get angry with anyone. Bob didn’t look with lust at other women. Hannah was generous with her money. Nick didn’t worry, but regularly prayed instead.”
I believe that when we personalize God’s teaching into personal headlines, we begin to focus and see our life as God sees it. This can be a way for us to hear him lovingly communicate to us how he wants us to live each day. So that when we come to the end of our life, we are humbled to hear the greatest headline of all -“Well done, good and faithful servant.”
What headline will you write today?
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