Taking my morning walks has become such a valuable activity to think and consider life these days. More than not, I’m leaning into quiet and actual conversations more than news and social media engagement. The stress, division, and outright hatred simply aren’t worth it to me anymore. The set-aside time in my mornings helps me to focus on what’s of greatest value, who I am and how I’m becoming, and what areas of my life I need to address and move forward.

These times we live in extend so many opportunities to us, inviting us to reveal who we actually are on the inside. What’s your measuring stick? Who are you at the core? Do your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors result in integrity in your life? What I mean is: Do your thoughts, emotions, actions, and your words align with who you say you are and what you claim to believe? Do mine?

The truth is that for me, as a follower of Jesus, I can no longer stand to partner with anything in my life that is contrary to goodness, Truth, and actual Love. This is the side I choose and continue to choose over and over again. Do I do this perfectly? Not by a long shot. But as I become more like Him in this process, the ways of death leave my life. He’s my measuring stick. No party, no platform, no person has the power to override who He is and what He’s up to, even when all of the “sides” claim to be on His side. To me, this matters because …

If we say we Love, we cannot partner with fear. If we say we Love, we cannot hate another. If we say we Love, we must love actual Truth. If we say we Love, we must hold ourselves accountable for the hypocrisy in our own hearts and lives. If we say we Love, we must get into the mess of it with the messy. If we say we Love, we must come alongside those with whom we disagree to reach understanding. If we say we Love, we must examine ourselves and consider our own personal standard, our measuring stick, and ask if we meet that mark. If we say we Love, we must operate in humility, generosity, kindness, and goodness with everyone. We cannot say we Love and gossip, slander, blame-shift, hate, judge, accuse, and condemn. Evil and evil actions we must hate. People, including those engaging in evil actions, we must Love. How do we separate the reality of that experience from the person well? We must operate in Love, wisdom and discernment.

I’m concerned that we are becoming what we judge. This is a natural consequence of hypocrisy, after all. We become blind to how we do the very things we judge others for and yet we don’t see it in ourselves. Ask me what I feel most grieved about these days, and I’ll answer the above over and over again. How can we move forward if we do not examine ourselves? How can we move forward if we will not take personal responsibility for the contribution we make to the problems at hand? Does it matter to us anymore that we live hypocritically while calling everyone else out on their actual or perceived hypocrisy?

You and I can be better. We can be slow to anger. We can stay much, much longer at the table because we really desire to find the common ground. We can live an unoffended life. We can stop gossiping and slandering and refuse to participate when someone else does. We can honor. We can find the good. We can hold ourselves accountable. We can be truly integrious by examining our beliefs, thoughts, words, emotions, and actions to ensure we are healing and transforming into the person we say that we are and/or want to be.

The trouble is, what I’ve shared requires a lot of us. Much like improving our health by eating a diet of whole foods, drinking water, eliminating sugar, exercising, getting adequate sleep, and sunshine, we must be disciplined and self-controlled. Often, we go for the pill or the quick, processed meal instead of engaging in practices that produce health and life in us. Our decisions to be better as we relate to ourselves, one another, and those in society depend on our willingness to literally root out the laziness, hypocrisy, and evil inside of ourselves first. Let us commit to do that foundational work and then see what remains to accomplish around us. My guess is, we’ll have a whole lot less to confront if we’d all choose to personally dig in, heal, and transform.

If you’re ready to do the work and live with integrity in every area, I invite you to join me now through the end of the year as I provide 20-or-so minutes of complimentary coaching on Instagram Live each Friday at 12 PM EST on topics that are geared toward helping each of us (myself included!) to be better by digging into areas that keep us from Love. For those who receive my weekly emails, you will also receive follow-up questions to consider each Tuesday to help you personally process and move forward.

Here’s the listing of the series with links to topics we’ve covered recently. And hey, if you happen to think, “Wow, _________ should totally get coached on that topic …” Well, to put it directly, it’s probably for you, too.

The Power of Self-Examination, 10/2/20

The Power of Personal Responsibility, 10/9/20

The Power of Humility, 10/16/20

The Power of Brokenheartedness, 10/23/20

The Power of Forgiveness, 10/30/20

The Power of Living Without Offense, 11/6/20

The Power of Sitting in Our Pain, 11/13/20

The Power of Overcoming, 11/20/20

The Power of Being With Others, 11/27/20

The Power of Telling the Truth, 12/4/20

The Power of Renewing Your Mind, 12/11/20

The Power of Generosity, 12/18/20