As I was asking the Lord which book to share, he brought this one to my attention.
The name of this book is How Are Your People Skills? By Dr. Jeff Owens
To succeed in life we need our relationship with God and with people to be at the top of our list.
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.Proverbs 3:3-4
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.Luke 2:52
This book will challenge you to be a clean vessel unto honor.
If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.2 Timothy 2:21
We should make improvements on our people skills so we can be used by God in a greater way everyday.
Here are some challenging quotes from his book.
p.4: Life is all about God and people. Don’t ever loose track of that important fact. Do you enjoy people or better yet do people enjoy you?
p.9: How are your people skills in regard to your leaders? As a follower, do you compliment your leaders or complain to them?
You must be conscious of your relationships on purpose if you’re going to be good at them.
p.10: How are your people skills with other church members? Do you desire to serve them?
p.12: How do yo answer your phone? Please answer the phone using your best people skills.
p.14: How are your people skills with the people in your family? What kind of people skills do your children feel like you have - what would they tell of your people skills if they were free to tell the truth?
p.18: How are your people skills with those with whom you disagree? When you see disagreement coming, do you get excited about the approaching fight, or do you decide to defuse the bomb so it doesn’t explode and hurt all the innocent bystanders.
p.20: When you see disagreement on the horizon, do you plan a well thought out spiritual response or do you lash out in the flesh and later regret what you did?
When you are right and others are wrong do you continue to treat them with dignity? Please don’t destroy the dignity of the fallen. Someday, you will be wrong, and someone else will be right. When that happens, you are going to wish you had treated that person with dignity when you are right.
p.22: How are your people skills with those who hurt you? Perhaps you need to learn to decide that you’re going to forgive in advance. What if you decided, "Whatever comes my way, I’m going to forgive? I’ve already planned it." Why don’t you decide to forgive future hurts right now.
p.23: Pastor Owens says, "I’ve already decided that whatever comes my way I will just go ahead and forgive. I’m not going to go through an emotional battle weekly trying to figure out how I’m going to live with people I pastor. He challenges us to get a reservoir filled with extra forgiveness and have it ready to apply to the problem the moment it occurs.
There are many other great reminders in this book on how to improve your people skills. It is certainly worth taking the time to read and apply it.
Sharpen your people skills so you can live a life that’s a blessing to God and others.
When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee.Proverbs 2:10-11
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.Ephesians 2:10
May this small book be a great help to you as it has been to me.
Gina is happily married to Jim Hall who is the Director of Payroll at St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network in Bethlehem, PA. They have been members of the Lehigh Valley Baptist Church for over 30 years. They have 7 children & 11 grandchildren. The 3 oldest children are married. Two boys and two girls are at home. Our 2 girls came from the wonderful country of China. We love all our children immensely and enjoy a very happy, fulfilled home. Training her children in the ways of the Lord brings great delight!
Gina loves to read motivational and inspirational books. She finds them a tremendous source of spiritual and personal growth in her life.
Born in a Catholic home, Gina came to know the Lord at 25 years of age, through the witness of a member from the Lehigh Valley Baptist Church. You can read her testimony here on our church website.
Comments 1
Thank you, Gina, for taking the time to summarize these great points! So true…”Life is all about God and people.”