I always think that only a parent can comprehend or at least have a small understanding of the love of God the Father, of how much God loves us his children. When you become a father or a mother, you start to truly appreciate the love of God; at least, that is what happened to me. When you first hold a tiny human being in your arms who has no understanding of day or night, or knowledge of left or right, who depends on you for absolutely everything and for whom you are ready anytime to give your life, that is when you realize in your mind and say that if God loves me as I love my child, then I am in good hands. When we become parents, we also come to realize how much our parents loved us even though sometimes we did not understand them or believe in their love.

Can you imagine a mother dropping her infant from her hands? Impossible. So impossible is God letting us fall from his hands (Isaiah 49:15). In God’s eyes we are like that infant. We can’t do anything without him, and we absolutely depend on him. Even though we may deceive ourselves and think we have got it all figured out, we can’t distinguish right from left without him (John 15:5). God loves us so much, even if we might not understand or see that love in the way we want to see it. He showed his love once and for all by giving us what was most precious to him, his only Son. The good news today is that God is always looking out for us. At times, it is difficult to understand God or trust in his love; at such moments, it is wise to stop trying to understand and instead try blind trust. Don’t responsible parents wake up in the morning and work hard to feed their children, clothe them, plan for their studies, take them to a doctor when they are not well, and do so many other things responsible parents do? Jesus said, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:11).

Nothing has more power in the life of a person than the fact of knowing that they are loved. A child from a loving family is different from a child who did not receive love from their parents. The first is always, or at least most of the time, confident, happy and optimistic, always expecting good things to happen to them. The second is worried, expecting the worst, and feels that he constantly has to fight to survive. Mistrust and suspicion are his words of order. Trusting God’s love for us elevate our lives to that level of the loved child who is confident, happy and optimistic for the future. You are the loved son and daughter of your heavenly Father, let the assurance of God’s love change the way you live and behave; walk with confidence as a loved child of the Most High. In this world where everything has been turned upside down, where there is nothing reliable anymore, the love of God is the only anchor that keeps us from total wreckage. Trust in that love and your life will never be the same.

My first job when I moved to Canada was as a sales agent. In the office where I worked, I sat next to a lady who had been with the company for 11 years. We used automated systems to talk to clients and raise funds for charitable organizations. Whenever she was speaking to a client, she would open the “sale” screen. As for me, whenever I started talking to a potential client, I would open the "end" screen because, in my mind, I was sure I wasn't going to make a sale. Guess what, I would not in more than ninety percent of cases, whereas my colleague who was confident about making sales would do it in more than fifty percent of cases which was way above the target. I wondered how she could raise money and I could not and yet we said the same things to clients. Our supervisor would repeat to us every morning that, “clients feel your attitude even if you say the correct words. If you are not confident, they feel it so they are not confident either, they do not trust you.” So my problem was what was inside my heart, there was no conviction that I would make it, so I didn’t make it. You cannot start an enterprise expecting to fail and be surprised when you fail.

Attitude is defined as the settled way of thinking. It is very important because it defines the actions that you will take. Being ambitious without the right attitude will lead to nowhere. The Bible says the attitude of your heart determines who you are. No matter how you try to hide it on the outside, what is inside will definitely come out, it will take control of your life and influence all the decisions you make. The world we live in is full of negative circumstances that are able to push us down and affect our thinking. In these circumstances, do you have the attitude of a conqueror or a conquered? Do you see yourself as a winner or a loser? Do you think in terms of opportunities and success or in terms of obstacles and failure? Attitude is the key to open the door to true prosperity, which is prosperity of the body, soul and spirit. Not only is this biblical but it has also been proven by many researchers all over the world. The Stanford Research Institute reported that only 12.5 percent of our success in life is determined by knowledge; the other 87.5 percent comes from attitude. More than skill, knowledge, or aptitude, our attitude dictates our success in life.

A positive attitude is not an inherent character; it is rather a deliberate choice one makes daily. What attitude should a Christian have? The Bible calls us to have the same attitude that Jesus had (Philippians 2:5). First, Jesus’ attitude is one of humility (Philippians 2:8). Humility allows you to be teachable and get wisdom. A proud person has no favour because he is an enemy of God. Second, it is an attitude of obedience no matter what (John 5:30, Hebrews 5:8). A person who lives in obedience overcomes the devil and walks in power; he fears no evil because he knows well that God is on his side. Third, Jesus’ attitude is a positive outlook towards work (John 5:17). God respects work, he will never bless laziness and mediocrity. One has to be diligent in working hard and always striving to achieve excellence if he wants to be blessed. Fourth, it is an attitude of confidence and boldness (John 14:11, 2Timothy 1:7). God did not give us the spirit of fear and trembling; he gave us the spirit of power and boldness that allows us to say “Abba Father” with confidence. If God is your father who can be against you? If you have such thinking as Paul says your life will be exalted and you will live from victory to victory and from glory to glory. You will be able to achieve the true prosperity mentioned in 3 John 1:2.

 Is ambition a bad character trait? Sometimes the word has a negative connotation attached to it; especially when people say so and so are ambitious persons, it means they will do anything to get to the top. However, some ambition is good, even necessary. Without ambition, you would not set and achieve any goal or get far in life. The right drive, the right motivation and ambition are all necessary for success. The Bible commends ambition. Yes, the right amount of ambition. Is not the woman of Proverbs 31 (verses 15 to 19) a woman of ambition? The Bible says she works hard to achieve her goals, and she is given as an example to inspire others.

The term overseer in the above verse refers to an individual who has a leadership position in the church and must keep watch over the flock. In other words, it means someone who has a leadership influence on others. From the biblical perspective, it is good to aspire to a leadership position in the church to influence others. Note that the verse doesn’t say if God wants someone to be an overseer or if God has destined someone to be an overseer. It’s rather an individual aspiration. If I could extend the meaning outside the church context, I think God commends our ambition to be in a position where we influence others in the right way. There is nothing wrong with the desire to be an opinion or a positional leader. There is nothing wrong with working hard to achieve that position if what you do is not immoral and is not condemned by any godly principle. However, there is a condition, a severe “but.” The one desiring to be in a position of leadership should be “above reproach” (1Tim 3:2).

The more one gains in influence as a leader, the more it’s required of him in terms of character. A recent experience made me realize that it is essential for a leader to have above reproach behaviour.  The other day the train I take to work was stuck at a station in Ottawa. It disrupted so many people and most of my colleagues arrived late at work. As I stood at the station trying to figure out how to get to work on time, I realized that the situation mirrors precisely what happens in life. When a commuter bus becomes dysfunctional, they toss it aside, and they bring another one to replace it. When a train is dysfunctional, it causes significant disruptions in the city, new measures and readjustments are needed. But when a plane becomes dysfunctional, hundreds of lives perish. The more people you influence, the more following you have in your track, the more is required of you to be found above reproach, because your dysfunctionality may mean the death of many, that can be spiritual or physical death.

The dysfunctionalities don’t need to be major flaws to be deadly. Even some of the things that we think are negligible or minor may become fatal if not addressed. I sometimes read about people with big names who have built good careers and have gained a lot of influence who see their empires crumble before them because they did not address their flaws. Some of the issues that cause their downfall include driving under the influence, tax evasion, sexual scandal, domestic violence, and others. They can be pushed aside, be replaced by others, and life goes on. But if you are leading nations, the catastrophic consequences are unimaginable. That is why we had the genocide of Jews; that is why we had the genocide of Tutsi in Rwanda because those who were supposed to lead the people were horribly dysfunctional. Work hard to achieve your ambition, work hard to climb the ladder in whatever sphere of influence you are operating in, but as you work hard, also allow God to fix the dysfunctionalities in you, to fine-tune your character. That is when you can climb to the top and stay there and enjoy life to the fullest.