The Box - Tokyo Style

I am returning from a trip to Seoul and Tokyo.  On this trip, I was struck by the beautiful sights, all the culture, and the beauty of these two countries.  As I was standing outside a hotel room on a small mountain overlooking downtown Seoul, I was struck by the beauty but my mind continued to go back to the people.  I wondered about the South Koreans and I thought of people who I knew would love to see Seoul from the place where I was standing.  I guess this means that my post below stuck.  I am reposting this now for two reasons.  First, I think it is a very important point.  Second, there are literally hundreds of young people from many countries who have become fans of the Opinion of the Minion since I posted it.  So if you have already read this, you can disregard the post.  If not, take a look.  I think it will bless you.

I have given this a lot a of thought and I believe that the Lord showed me something that changed the way I view people.

You see, when God creates a person he gives them abilities, passions, desires, talents and all sorts of wonderful attributes that we seldom ever see. Then he takes all these things and puts them in a box with silver wrapping paper and very pretty red ribbon tied in a bow around it. He calls the box - You. It is a present to the world. When I saw this for the first time, I looked around at all the people walking by and said to myself, "Merry Christmas!" because all I could see were beautiful boxes waiting to be opened.

The problem is many people don't even know what is in their own box much less have taken the time to look in someone elses box. This starts when we are in school. As we grow up, we learn all kinds of new things about ourselves: what we like, what we don't, the changes that our bodies go through, we learn things in school about the world and we learn about social interaction. But sometimes that social interaction teaches us that the stuff in our box isn't all that important.

Have you ever felt like the stuff inside you doesn't really matter? Can you look back to a point in your life where you were doing something you really enjoyed and someone else called it or you stupid or worthless?

When you pull the most precious parts of your life out of the box and let other people see them, it is scary because you are definitely vulnerable at that point. But know this, the Lord put all those wonderful things inside and they are of great price and value. Don't let someone cheapen what is so precious by their comments.

Everyday, I see people who are alive but aren't living. I think it is because they have told themselves that the treasures in their box aren't important or worth much so they don't do anything with them. They may not have done this openly but below the surface it happens. You have to know that if God took the time to create you and put all those treasures inside you, they are important both to him and to me.

When was the last time you looked in your box and pulled out something you truly enjoyed and used it? When was the last time you opened the box? When was the last time you were passionate about anything? Are you so caught up in the rat race that your box isn't important any more?

Here is another interesting question - When was the last time you opened up someone else's box to see who they really are and celebrate the gifts inside them? Do you always know what is wrong with your husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, kids, friends, parents, family, coworkers but never look inside the box for what is so awesome about them?

Husbands, what would happen if instead of criticizing your wife, the next time you saw her, you decided to look at something that was so precious to her, so beautiful, so tender, so amazing and something she loved about herself? What would happen if you nurtured that gift and encouraged it to grow? What would happen if, after you opened her box, she decided that your box was the most special one on earth and decided to touch the core of who you are? What if you both decided to go deep in your relationship?

Boyfriends, what if you looked at her and decided that you wanted more than just what was inside her clothes, you wanted what was inside her heart. Girlfriends, what if you decided that you wanted the same thing? What if you wanted to explore who they are and make them the best person they could be while they did the same thing to you? What if you looked at them and asked, "What can I give?" instead of "What can I get?"

Is this a little intense? Yes. Is it worth it if just one person decides to open their box or open someone elses? Yes. You see, I believe that I got to see a little glimpse of the creation through the creator's eyes when He showed me this. It was truly an eye opening experience and I can definitely say I will never be the same. I got to see how He looked at and longs for His creation to be all that we can be and how His love for us goes so deep His heart aches for us.

So I guess the real question is what is in your box? I want to know.

That's still the Opinion of His Minion

People Don't Care What You Know Until They Know How Much You Care

Today I want to post about something we all do - give other people advice.

I think it is OK to give others advice but most of the time we do it in the wrong way.  Have you ever been around someone who is always telling you what to do?  Most of the time you don't want their advice and because of the way they present it, you reject it.  Why is that?

Most of the time when we give advice, it is to solve some problem.  I am not saying that you shouldn't give advice or take advice.  Getting good counsel on an issue is always a good thing.  However, from what I have seen, most people don't really care what you know until they know and feel that you genuinely care about and their emotions first.  How do you show someone you care?  One way is to empathize with them or try to feel what they are going through.

Let's look at a bible example.  The shortest verse in the bible is simply, "Jesus wept."  This is an interesting story because it centers around the death of Lazarus.  Now before we get to this verse, Jesus has a conversation with his apostles.  They come and tell him that Lazarus is sick.  Jesus says he is sleeping and the disciples think it is no big deal because if Lazarus is asleep, then he will be fine.  However, Jesus knows that he is dead and basically tells the disciples that he is going to raise Lazarus from the dead.  When he comes near Lazarus' relatives house, one of the relatives comes out and is crying about Lazarus' death.  What did Jesus do?  He cried with her.  See he sympathized with her situation before he told her how to fix the situation.  If He is God and He did it that way, doesn't it make sense that we should also?

If it had been most of us, we would have seen the woman and immediately told her to shut up and given her direction about how to fix the situation.  But that isn't the way to go about it.  We have to show people how much we care about them first.  We have to show people that we are on their side and that we believe in them.  After we do that about 95% of the time, then we might be in a place to offer other pieces of advice.  Now, I am not saying that we shouldn't correct our kids especially when they are young because we have to do that.  But you should still be encouraging them most of the time.  It is a way to let love work in your and their lives.

I ask you to be honest with yourself.  Are you always giving advice without considering what a person is feeling?  If so, please take a minute to understand them completely and show them that you really do care.

That's the Opinion of the Minion