The parable of the flower.
Once upon a time there was a beautiful flower. It was tall & beautiful. It’s petals were soft & it’s fragrance was sweet. But one day, the flower looked around & saw all the wonderful trees surrounding it in the valley. And the flower decided that to be truly happy, it wanted to be a tree. It wanted to stand tall above the other plants. It wanted limbs to reach high into the sky. It wanted leaves & bark & big strong roots. It wanted birds to come & nest in it’s branches. And so day after day the flower tried to be a tree. It stood as tall as it could. It tried to be strong. It tried to send the insects away to make room for the birds to come & nest. But try as it may the flower couldn’t be a tree. This made the flower feel very discouraged. Sad. Lonely even. Over time, the flower began to resent the trees around her. The flower was very unhappy. It simply wasn’t satisfied just being a flower.
Then there were the weeds that started growing up around her. They were growing tall & because of this the flower couldn’t see the sun like she could before. They drank up much of her water. As time passed she became thirsty. It hadn’t rained in days. The soil was becoming dry. Her roots couldn’t sustain her between the heat, the lack of water & the the short supply of sunlight on her leaves. Her petals began to fall. Her stalk began to bend. She was weak. Frail. Sick.
And as a result, the flower would never grow. In fact, her beauty was fading. And one day soon she would be gone.
Here’s the moral of the story: Identity matters & healthy things grow.
Identity – Who are you?
Health – Are you growing?
[Tweet “If you know who you are & if you’re healthy, you can grow.”]If you know who you are & if you’re healthy, you can grow. This is true of you, your organization, your church, etc. I’ve seen it over & over again in a plethora of situations. When you know who you are & you work to be healthy you grow. When you don’t, you struggle & eventually cease to exist, or at least cease to be relevant.
If a flower knows it’s a flower & gets plenty of water & sunshine, it will grow. But if it tries to be a tree, it’ll never be a tree. It will be unhappy. Miserable. It will constantly suffer from an identity crisis. It will never be satisfied. It will often be resentful. And as a result it’ll never grow.
And if it isn’t healthy, if it’s surrounded by weeds, if it is planted in shallow ground where it’s roots can’t go down deep, if the soil is dry & there isn’t much rain, if it spends more time in the shade than in the sun, it simply won’t be healthy. It will struggle for survival. It will be weak. Frail. It’s stalk will bend. And it won’t be able to stand up straight. It’s petals will fall. And as a result, it will never grow.
[Tweet “Identity matters & healthy things grow.”]
I think these are questions that we have to ask ourselves. And I think these are questions we have to ask the organizations we lead.
IDENTITY: Do we know who we are? Who God has called us to be? At our core can we state in very succinct terms who we believe God made us to be? Are we working out of who we are or are we trying to be something we’re not? Do we understand our gifts, strengths, abilities & purpose? Are we satisfied in how we’ve been gifted & ready to use those gifts to bless others?
HEALTH: Are are we healthy? Is our life in balance? Is there a healthy rhythm? Are there things that have not been dealt with that keep getting put off? Are there people around us who are holding us back or pulling us down? Are there elephants in the room no one is willing to address? Is there an issue, a spirit of unforgiveness, a grudge, a problem that is passively being ignored? Are we doing the hard things necessary for health?
When we come to a place of understanding who we are & when we do the necessary things to be healthy – we grow!
So what needs to change in you or for you so you can grow?
What needs to change in your church, your organization or your group dynamic so it can grow?
Identity matters & healthy things grow.
“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.” Ephesians 3.16-17
