Knowing God Through Others

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

I had been struggling at work for some time with negative emotions. God was silent on the matter and I felt the Lord wanted to teach me something important.

I have been task orientated all my life and not relationship orientated in the workplace. Task-oriented is an approach in which a person focuses on the tasks that need to be performed in order to meet certain goals or standards. Relationship-oriented is an approach in which a person focuses on the motivation and the general well-being of team members.

I was having issues with some staff and asked someone I respect to help, and he said, “you always seem to get it done, but sometimes I don’t agree with the way you do it.” The next day the heads of departments agreed that I was tough on people. My standards are high, it wasn’t what I said, but the way I said it when dealing with problems that people caused.

I thought I had a good relationship with most these people, and it crushed me to hear this. I went to God and cried out knowing something was wrong. The Lord spoke and agreed with them saying I only care about the task and not about the relationships. He used 1 John 4:7-11 to relay His message. He showed me the love of God will be evident by my love for people by caring for others, no matter the circumstances. Simply put, if we know and love Jesus, then we are to live and love as He did and care for all people irrespective of the shortcomings.

I had an epiphany, The Lord delivered from a trait that had hindered relationships for most my life. I have seen Him move in me and the lives of others at work since. He has shown me to care about what people are going through and not focus on the task of what they are doing. Verse 11 says; “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”