Living With IntegritySample

EARN IT

If your boss offered to raise your salary by several million dollars, what would you do with the money? For many, the answer to that question might range from paying bills to buying a new car to taking that long-awaited vacation. Or perhaps the motive would be more altruistic: give some to charity or to the Church, or start a program to benefit the less fortunate.

Now, depending on the circumstances, any or all of these ideas could be appropriate. One thing’s for sure, though: how we answer reveals a lot about our character. This is what makes one professional quarterback’s response to that very question so inspiring.

Having just been awarded a jaw-dropping, multi-million dollar contract – even by NFL standards – his answer to a reporter who asked what he was going to do with the money was this: “I’m going to earn it.” I like that. No arrogant tone, as if everyone owed him something, just an attitude of responsibility to himself, to his teammates, and to the organization he represented, to do his job in a manner worthy of the trust they placed in him.

Too often, success is defined by how much we can get, rather than our attitude toward what we already have. Our mindset should be to “earn it.” Obviously, we don’t “earn” the gifts God gives us – He offers them freely. I’m referring to exhibiting an attitude worthy of the trust we’ve been given. In other words, whatever our blessings – a marriage, children, a job, or even material possessions – we should respond to His gifts with a deep sense of gratitude for all He has blessed us with and faithfulness to the things He’s given us to do.