Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.” John 8:54 (NKJV)
The world desperately needs more leaders—the kind who develop genuine relationships with others to help bring out the best in those they influence. In fact, you are designed to be this kind of leader.
According to Tom Marshall’s book, Understanding Leadership, to develop the kind of relationships necessary, there are four essential building blocks. Yesterday we discussed the first: trust. Today we will cover two more: care and respect.
Care is essential in developing great relationships.
It’s difficult to form a relationship with someone if they don’t think you care. They need to be shown that you’re looking out for their best interests—through action. Actions always speak louder than words. Take a look at each of your relationships and ask yourself, “When is the last time I did something to show this person how much I care?”
Remember, caring about someone doesn’t mean that you can’t confront them. In fact, carefully addressing issues to help someone improve is one way to show just how much you care.
Respect is the most neglected of the four building blocks.
If we’re not careful, we can begin to take people for granted. The good news is there’s a simple solution. Show respect. Do you communicate that you value the people around you? Respect needs to be communicated through words and actions; this is what it means to honour someone.
In today’s verse, Jesus said that if you honour yourself, your honour is nothing. If you chase down honour, you’ll never feel like you have enough. Instead, spend your time showing others how much you respect them and you will build great relationships.