WHEN YOU CROSS CULTURES - World Evangelical Alliance
WHEN YOU CROSS CULTURES - World Evangelical Alliance
WHEN YOU CROSS CULTURES - World Evangelical Alliance
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
SELF ASSESSMENT<br />
161<br />
Closely related to the joy of receiving praise is the expression of one’s<br />
thankfulness. Personally, I have learned precious lessons from my wife<br />
concerning a thankful spirit. She constantly expresses her gratitude in<br />
spontaneous ways. She has taught me the importance of expressing thanks as<br />
well as the receiving of thanks. Thanksgiving should characterise our lives. Verbal<br />
expressions of thanks should be encouraged. Thanksgiving enables a person to<br />
overcome the inner tensions which stress brings.<br />
In an Asian culture, thanksgiving is an important trait. It is often shown<br />
by the giving and receiving of gifts. Asians have polite ways of showing gratitude<br />
that may be misunderstood by others as false humility. All of us need to learn<br />
to receive gratitude and to express gratitude humbly and honestly.<br />
We also need to receive with gratitude the gifts and abilities that God<br />
has blessed us with, and use them for the building up of others. We need to<br />
have a sane estimate of these abilities and develop and use them for God’s<br />
glory.<br />
HANDLING WEAKNESSES AND LIMITATIONS<br />
Our weaknesses and limitations should cause us to lean more<br />
dependently on God and to take strength from His grace each day. Some friends<br />
who attended a seminar were encouraged by this statement - “Please be patient<br />
with me. God is not finished with me yet!”<br />
Like Paul who experienced weaknesses, we need to learn the lessons of<br />
God’s sufficient grace throughout our lives. God’s grace is sufficient to meet<br />
our inadequacies and limitations.<br />
For those with a low self-esteem, the following exercise may be helpful.<br />
It was proposed by Ruth Myers in a seminar on stress.<br />
1. Write down the things which you feel about yourself. Write them down<br />
whether you think they are true or not. For example,<br />
I am not: well-educated<br />
outgoing<br />
comfortable with people ...<br />
or I am: too emotional<br />
too rigid<br />
always dependent on people ...<br />
2. Prayerfully ask God to show you where your view of yourself would have<br />
distorted the facts. God’s grace is also sufficient to meet all your inner needs.