How do you view me? This is an important question because it influences everything you do. Do you view me as harsh and exacting? The servant who did hid his talent in the earth and led a life of inaction, paralyzed by fear. The other servants lived lives of full engagement without knowing if their efforts would be successful or not. They rejoiced to present their increase to me. The unprofitable servant accused me of being harsh and unfair. The profitable servants did not express their views of me in words, so you will have to infer them by their actions.

Do you have a methodical approach to evangelism? Does this make it easier to present my message? Do you study the interactions that I had with people, such as the woman at the well, to learn how I approached this task? What do you find? Did I ever use the same approach twice, or did I adapt the presentation to the unique situation in every case? If you agree with this does it make it difficult to develop a methodical approach? I was led by the Spirit to do the work of the Spirit, and you can be too.

Are you a self-made person? How many people do you meet who claim that no one ever gave them anything, so they take credit for all of their success? No newborn child takes care of their own needs. An enormous amount of effort went into getting you to that point, and even more comes after before you are able to fend for yourself. Your parents put in this effort in advance with no idea of how you would turn out. So no one has a valid claim to their own success. This alone is the basis for a lifetime of humility and gratitude, giving back, and paying it forward. 

Do you want to change? If you have an ideal in mind and you do not meet it, the result is tension between the real and the ideal. Do you find that genuine, enduring improvement is rare in yourself and others? Confronting your problems head on can be ineffective and frustrating. Is there another way? The Bible speaks of beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, and describes this as the way we are changed from one degree of glory to another, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Changed by beholding? This is an unconventional approach by the wisdom of this world. Could it really work?