According to His Heart

"And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding." (Jeremiah 3:15, NKJV)

According to the Maxwell Leadership Bible, there are four skills needed for a "shepherd after God's own heart." They are:

• Attitude Skills: a servant's heart both positive and persistent.
• People Skills: the ability to relate to others: communicate, delegate, motivate, confront, etc.
• Equipping Skills: the ability to train and develop others for service.
• Leadership Skills: the ability to cast vision, plan strategy, direct teams, and empower others.

As I look at those four skills, the one area I am weakest in is Attitude Skills. So often, I get stuck with the people who are negative and wanting to give up. "Chaplain, can you talk to this Soldier and fix him?" So much of my day is spent trying to "fix" trainees who want to stay broken. As the old saw says, "It's hard to soar with the eagles when you're surrounded by turkeys."

So, how do I go about improving my attitude? I guess it has to start with the choices that I make each day. Choosing to be positive, optimitistic, and up-beat. Rather than wallowing in people's misery, I need to start finding the good things in their suffering and misery. Maybe it starts with one key question: "With all this crap happening in your life, how have you gotten this far?" Maybe this will help me to see the positive things in their lives and be a way for me to improve my own attitude. One thing I know for sure, cliches and axioms aren't going to work. I need to overhaul my approach.