You Need Real Power

Unless we have a heart of love, we cannot truly connect to power. I know in our thinking mind, this sounds unlikely. When we look at how power aggressively shows up in our world, on our jobs, in the marketplace, it would seem that love is the last element in the formula for success and power. Being a spectator on the landscape of our world can make us feel very small amid the grandeur of it all. But, whether our voices carry a big shout or a small whisper, we need power. A bold but true statement. For the smallest activities, we need power. In the mountains, our lives sometimes require us to climb; we need power. For the valleys we are expected to surmount, we need power. For the difficult people we feel will challenge our very souls, we need power. To "do" anything, we need power. Scientifically, power is energy exerted over time. Power in our physical lives requires effort and ability. But the kind of power I'm speaking of requires us to shift and surrender.

Shift and surrender are necessary whenever we do anything relational. We do well when we shift from our own survival tendencies to a place of balance and empathy- opening ourselves to the possibility of meeting both the other party's needs and our own. The force behind strong emotions can fake authority. It can look impressive, but in the end, its weight is skin deep. It doesn't affect people to think, listen, slow down, open up, align, or change. The hastiness of judgment, condemnation, and assumption can only limit power and authority. It goes no further than its origin. It carries no weight. No influence. That illusion of power doesn't compel God to move because it's hollow and without resonance to carry it to heavenly atmospheres where true decisions are made. Communication is divine. It bears good or evil fruit. What we say to one another and to ourselves either ascends or descends and produces a harvest. There is no wonder that what someone says to us, what we say to ourselves, grows or withers our perspectives. Where there is no fruit, there is no love.

What am I talking about? The way we interact with each other is how we express power and influence, or a lack thereof. We may believe the emotions we express land, but they never do when we aren't coming from the source of love. We have need to shift from being self-willed to open to flow from a place of love. God is Love. Love is power. Power is influence. Love is rooted and firm. Emotional conversation bears no roots. Wherever we are in life, big shouts or small whispers, we have influence and impact. Find a space in your heart to grow good fruit in your ministry, your classroom, your office, the field, to bring true, real influence and power. Be rooted in love that's real and make sure you're expressing your impact through that filter.