Faith without Good Works...

…faith by itself is dead

if it doesn't cause you to do any good things

(James 2:17)

I am so glad that February is over. Within my circle of friends, it seems to be the peak to seasonal affective disorder (SAD), where otherwise high functioning, productive leaders fall into this funk about the current state of their lives. Perhaps it is the lack of sunlight or the inclement weather that zaps the energy, leaving self reflective time to feel sad. To prevent myself from having the winter blues, I purposely use the inside time to journal about where I am and what I plan to do (when the weather breaks) to reach my goals.

Every product or practice began as a thought. I remember when I started to have serious thoughts of leaving my corporate job. It was during a period of the frustration when my natural work did not feed my passion. I thought about an exercise that I learned at a leadership conference. The attendees were asked to consider the following questions:  

What drives you?

What disturbs you?

What do you disturb? 

Your passion and purposed work should reflect what triggers you to want to do good things.

Wanting to do good works is a first step that must be followed up by actions that demonstrate wanting and planning to achieve the goal. It is natural to become overwhelmed with the details of how and when, or the doubts of fear or failure. That’s why drive and passion so important in a faith journey. In the words of Margaret Shepard: sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith. Keep pushing to move forward.



Image selected from the “Because of Them, We Can” Campaign
http://www.becauseofthemwecan.com/

So it is March and I have shifted into consultant mode. When my friends call and the conversation feels depressive, I turn into a coach: What drives you? What disturbs you? What do you disturb? Stop thinking about and do something. You will never get past the sadness of not living on purpose. What are you claiming by faith and working to achieve in good deeds? Feel free to comment, or, send me an email at latanyua.robinson@gmail.com. If you like this post and want to catch up on some of my previous discussions, please visit the full Purposed Work blog at http://ltr-latrobe-mfg.blogspot.com/.