If you’ve been following Good Success Mastermind for very long, then you probably know that we have a number of core values that help us direct our efforts in our own business and in our own personal lives so that we can experience the fulfillment that comes not just with the world’s take on success, but on Good Success. Core Value #3 is community.
When I say the word “community,” people usually perk right up. We’re all part of communities. We probably live in a neighborhood. We probably support local sports teams when our kids play on them. We’re likely involved with a church. These are all communities. They are all things we are connected to.
Community is a lot more than just connection, however. Community is the thing that, when you are striving to be a conduit for good rather than just a bucket for benefits, the thing that conduit is connected to. So when you think of the keys for Good Success – charity, stewardship, community, and growth – they are all tied together and, at the end of the chain where the benefits really accrue to you and the world around you, is community.
Think about it this way: Charity, Core Value #1, is love. It is what flows through us. We must always seek the truth and seek love. We must always strive to have the fruit of the Spirit: joy, peace, love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23). These things are achieved through being filled with love, and we have to be filled with that if we want the fulfillment we think of here as Good Success. That love is also what flows through stewardship, when we care for the things we’ve been entrusted with, and it results in growth. In between, however, community is where the good things we’ve channeled through love and stewardship end up. In the phrase, “Be a conduit, not a bucket,” the community is where the conduit is connected. People truly experiencing Good Success are conduits of good things for their communities.
What is a Community?
We all have a basic, instinctive understanding of community. That’s why we perk up when we hear the word. Community is much more than the local little league team or the men’s group at church, however. It’s the person you serve in your business, your customers. It is also your family. It is the charity you give to and the ministry work you do. It is the people you work with when you work with your hands, and, maybe most importantly, community is the thing that is so good you feel compelled to give good things to it.
Our communities are the things we were placed here on this earth to serve, so serving the community, the “who” of the equation, is our purpose. Work hard to love your community in place of yourself. After all, nothing is accomplished without love and, as I mention in another article on why most people in the world are unhappy, loving only yourself will never lead to true fulfillment. Loving selflessly, on the other hand, such as loving your community, will.
Take a hard look at yourself:
- Are you a lone wolf?
- Do you insist on doing things on your own?
- Do you resist being filled with the Holy Spirit or consumed by God?
- Are you able but unwilling to help and bless other people?
If you answer yes to any of these, even the ones that seem relatively harmless like the question about going it alone, then you are likely not embodying the Core Value of community. Consider working to change this, as it will dramatically improve your life.
I hope this helped you, even if it was hard to read. Also, I would love to read about your community, so leave me some comments below. You are part of the community I and Good Success Mastermind were put here to serve, so it’s my purpose to know how I can best serve you by knowing you better!
