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jn_en_2012_11_08

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Solid Ground II - Acknowledgement and Appreciation ...

Thursday, Nov 8, 2012. How do we build up our groups and relationships? How do we spread appreciation and distribute acknowledgement in the right way? These things are important when we talk about solid ground for our relationships, for our daily life.

Group Development …

In the science world I have grown up in, it was clear that when you use ideas by other people, or material by other people, you give a reference to these people in your talks and your publications. It is a basic act of appreciation, but also of truth. And it is good if you know that others will acknowledge your contributions to their work.

But I have also learned, that in some circles references are not taken into account. In a larger organization, sometimes the head of some section speaks about his section without giving reference to his people. You work on texts, give it to the hierarchy level above, and there it is integrated into larger documents under the name of another person. This is not a very healthy thing, when you think a little longer about it. At least, there should be a list of contributors somewhere. I am quite happy that in software development in the linux world, references have a longer and deeper tradition …

Accepting the strength of every individual and talking about it in positive words is an important part of “building solid ground”. It is also a delicate thing! How often do we have the feeling that our contributions and our activities are not fully appreciated. Some people have difficulties to acknowledge or praise the activities of others.

Church environment successful?! …

Is at least our church environment successful in appreciation? That heavily depends on the particular group, I think. I have been in several churches over the past years, just because my job led me several times back and fourth between the UK, Germany and the US. And I learned that our churches can be really great places, wonderful places! But they can also be poor in praise and love. That depends on the people and on the group dynamics of the individual church …

But the Christian church has a wonderful chance to influence our relationships deeply and to give solid ground to them. In an environment, where you know that God loves every individual, you cannot remain ignorant to them. God has created every single person in a unique way. Everyone is valuable and has a lot to contribute. We should know that, live it and acknowledge the contributions. There are so many strength, they have to complement each other and we will achieve a lot!

I am extremely grateful for the gospel, for God's presence, for what I can learn from him day by day. Every time, when I bring my struggle with some point to him and sincerely look at it from the perspective of Jesus, I learn so much and usually I find a healthy attitude, which has perspective for the future. It is just fantastic, really! The gospel is truly “good news”, again and again … (Roland Potthast) ... more texts

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