What do you really want out of a relationship? What do you expect to happen when you work with or for somebody? Is playing fair important? Is being trustworthy critical?
It is almost too easy to let down those closest to you. A former senior executive in the business circles of Japan has publicly said that unless a corporatin has “ethics” they will not survive in the long term. The remedy for Japan today is to rediscover the ethics that are shared and lived out in daily life.
With any framework of values it is easy to find instances where failure has or will occur. Coming home tired is usually a leading indicator that something not so nice will happen in the relationships around me. The fact that Cherry holds me accountable is a wonderful thing. The proverb is right. “Leaders who know their business and care keep a sharp eye out for the shoddy and cheap, for who among us can be trusted to be always diligent and honest?” (Proverbs 20.8, 9)
The question is not “if” we are going to fail, but what are we going to do about it when we do! I find that if I answer the question first I am able to respond more quickly than I would have otherwise and in a manner that reflect the values I hold dear.
I look around me and see living examples of people losing sights of their frameworks. It seems as if they are not sure of why they are in relationship; family or business. Trust is left long behind and webs of deceit are sown, repaired, and then maintained in problematic ways. I find that it is in the mutual efforts to hold accountable, to lift up, and to nurture that makes everything different. The attention that others pay to their relationship with me is as important as anything that I do, as long as I am open to their efforts.
God loves us intensely and will keep a sharp eye out. What happens next is up to you and me.
