Lessons learnt from "WHO you are when noone's looking"

I. Overview of Book
Bill Hybels has written this book about how to live life full of virtues and Godly characters. He sees beyond today's 'wrong world' and views it as a great challenge for individuals to keep pursuing an improvement on their Godly characters so that changes can occur in this world. Not just small changes, big changes such as to see love being spread, needs of people being met, injustice confronted, no more violence and also leading others towards Jesus. He highlights the different virtues that are important and through his personal experience and scriptural references, he explores the ways in which we can improve our Godly characters to become a better influencer, world changer and kingdom shaper.  

II. 2 Points learnt from
The book
A. A person with vision have the ability to see beneath the surface of people's lives. They believe it is worth the effort to 'dig' beyond people's cover. They know that looking at people's heart, character, hopes and fears that motivate a person's behavior, is the gateway into helping them be a step closer to the great person God had originally intended them to be.

Each person is made unique by God. For a person to have the ability to tap into other people's 'hidden jewel' is truly a blessing. You'd be able to see potential, prospect and future when others may have lost faith. It then leads to an easier process of surrender to God personally to let Him work in our lives.

B. There are many aspects of sacrificial love for different  types of relationships. It is the backbone of lasting marriages and strong friendships. In marriage, it is to put the spouse's needs before your own because you want to see them grow into their full potential. In friendships, it means the willingness to meet others' needs to show that they are well-loved. In the world at large, this type of love is as simple as spreading and giving out love to those who need it the most.

III. Discuss an aspect of God's character
A great aspect of God's love expressed in this book through the fact that Bill had dedicated 4 chapters in the book speaking about the different types of love. God's love is so big for us that it is mostly beyond our comprehension. The love that we understand can be divided into a few different categories (in the book it is classified as: tender love, tough love, sacrificial love and radical love). All four types of love i want to be able to enjoy and grow in to be able to maximize my ability to influence others.

I feel I need most improvement on tender love. I need to learn to view people as tools to be used or trouble to be avoided. Another way of viewing it is to treat people like Jesus does including lifting people up, forgiving them and continue to treat them with love and respect.

IV. Discuss a quote/paragraph from the book.
"Endurance sustains courage. A burst of courage for fifteen minutes is good, but it is not enough to carry you through. Endurance gives staying power to discipline" page 60

Many people struggle with endurance as there are many quitting points in this life. Go back a century and you will find that quitting was considered as disgraceful. These days, it is pretty common. I see this a lot especially when it comes to those people with leadership positions.  Sometimes it looks like it is so much easier to just become spectators instead of a leader or servant. The challenge is, do we really want to stop becoming an influence to others when we have a greater calling to serve for God's glory?! If I ever get to that stage, I hope that I will turn to God, trust Him to empower me to crash through the quitting point barrier and know that God will help me come out in one piece on the other side.