Daniel Im

Pastor + Author

love

Why Guilt is a Cheap Motivator

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Sharing my faith was the last thing I felt equipped to do.

As a first year student in university, I knew that there was something called the Great Commission, but I didn’t know what to do with it. So after looking through all the Christian clubs listed online, I decided to join Campus Crusade for Christ, since they were all about evangelism (it’s now called Power to Change in Canada, or Cru in the U.S.).

That first year was incredible and I owe so much of my spiritual formation to that ministry. I learnt how to share my faith, I was filled with the Holy Spirit, I saw multiple people give their lives to Christ, and I went on a mission trip where I met my wife, Christina.

Everything was perfect, except for the fact that I was doing it all out of guilt.

At some point that I don’t remember, things shifted and I realized that I began sharing my faith with others because I felt like I had to, not out of a joy that I got to.

I wasn’t introducing people to Jesus because God loved them, I was doing it because I wanted God to love me more. And I was afraid that if I missed an opportunity to share Jesus with a stranger, that somehow it would be my fault if they went to hell. After all, what if they never met another Jesus loving, Jesus believing person again?

Honestly, I can’t pinpoint the moment I started to believe these lies, but I know that I didn’t get it from this ministry.

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Should You Love Those You Lead?

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The only people who can hurt you deeply are the ones you allow to get deep inside your soul. This is what makes love so dangerous. – Erwin McManus

In order to be an effective leader, do you need to love those you’re leading? Is love a competency that a leader needs to display proficiency in?

When it comes to the task or the domain of your work, love will go a long way. After all, when you love what you’re doing, time flies. Can’t you remember doing something for hours upon end, only to realize that it’s past midnight? Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls this flow. This is what it means to work in your area of greatest talent or strength.

But what about the people you’re working with? Do you need to love them in order to be an effective leader?

The straightforward answer is no. There are a lot of people that I’ve worked with that I definitely did not love. Now obviously, I’m not talking about the romantic sense of love. I’m talking about the sort of brotherly love that causes you to care for, think about, and want to hang out with others outside of work hours.

For some, this sounds like crossing boundaries. “Shouldn’t work be work and personal life be personal life?” While there are many that still hold to this view, there are an increasing number of leaders–millennials especially–that want to see that line done away with.

Just think about it. If you had the choice, wouldn’t you want to love what you’re doing and love who you’re doing it with?

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animals and spirituality

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As you can see in this picture, my wife and I have a puppy – his name is Teddy and he’s almost 6 months old.

Teddy - Our Dog
Teddy - Our Dog

For the past couple of days, we have been babysitting Christina’s parent’s two dogs and it’s been fascinating to see the interaction between the three of them.

The most significant thing that my wife and I keep on noticing is the interplay between love and jealousy.

  • When we come home, the dogs love us. But when we begin to pet one of them, the other two become jealous.
  • If we are going to give them all treats, they love us.  But when we give the first one out, the other two are jealous.
  • If we hold one of the dogs, that dog loves us.  But the other two walk towards us and either whine or look at us with eyes of jealousy.

How often, as human beings, are we also like that?

  • When we receive a gift from a loved one, we love that person.  But when our loved one gives a gift to someone else and forgets us, we become jealous.
  • When we complete a project or a task and people positively acknowledge our work, we love them.  But when the only work being acknowledged is someone else’s, we become jealous.

What exactly is the relationship between love and jealousy?

I believe it’s a battle between our human/sinful nature and a life that is fully devoted to God.

“The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: …jealousy…But the fruit of the Spirit is love…Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:19-25)

Which side is winning in your life?

is money evil?

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“Money is the root of all evil” – we’ve all heard it before, but is it true?

We can’t live without money, but too much money can consume us and change us.

We think money can buy us and bring us everything that we want, but is it true? John D. Rockefeller after making millions of dollars admitted, “I have made millions, but they have brought me no happiness.”

Deep within us, all of us want to be loved – it’s a natural human craving. No one is born with an innate craving for money. Babies and children don’t even understand the concept of money! What we are born with is an innate craving for love and acceptance.

However, when our innate craving for love and acceptance isn’t met, especially as adolescents and adults, money enters the scene. Money is the love and acceptance of our culture. We use money to buy ourselves love. We use money to buy ourselves acceptance.

Therefore, perhaps the reason all of us want excess money is because deep down inside of us, we are all craving for love and acceptance.

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