 Okay, so welcome back. Just a quick thought from Hosea chapter 10 and verse 12, okay. Hosea 10 verse 12, let me read it. It says, So for yourself righteousness reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground for it is time to seek the Lord till he comes and reigns righteousness on you. And if you see a lot of reference to agriculture, plowing, reaping, etc. In the verses following that also, I just want to turn our attention to that particular phrase, break up your fallow ground. So fallow ground is ground that is uncultivated, fallow ground is a ground which has a lot of potential, but it's lying uncultivated. It's not been touched for whatever purpose. It's got potential, but it's not cultivated. So that kind of a thing. So here comes the instruction, break up your fallow ground, break up meaning, fill it, prepare the land so that it can be used. So we see that it says, So for yourself righteousness reap in mercy and so on. So the question is, what is our fallow ground? Maybe there are certain aspects of our life where we have, maybe it's an area of gifting, maybe it's an area of ability, maybe it's an undiscovered place, undiscovered potential. But you know that, hey, that's not been used. It's lying waste. And the large instruction is break up that fallow ground, prepare it, it is hardened. No seed can actually fall and take root. It needs to be prepared. So whatever that we need to do in order to prepare that aspect of our life, in context of whatever we are doing with learning about life skills, what aspect of these things do we need to kind of prepare ourselves for so that there can be the sowing of the Lord, there can be a reaping and so on. So as we pray, let's ask the Lord, Lord, what is my fallow ground? What is it that's lying unused and neglected and it has potential? People have said, God, you have said, but it's still lying unused, it's still lying. So yeah, let's ask the Lord, right? Okay, let's pray. Father, we come before you Lord and we have this question, Lord, that you would show what is our fallow ground? Something that's so much potential below the surface, but it needs to be prepared. There needs to be some work on it. And Lord, we pray that you would show us what it is, what it is that we need to do, God, in order to prepare that, in order to break up that fallow ground. And I just pray, Lord, that you would, Lord, enable us, Lord, by your word and by the work of your spirit, that our hearts will be prepared, Lord, that this aspect or area of our lives will be prepared, Lord, to receive the word of God, to receive the reign of the Holy Spirit. And we do not want it to be fallow or God. We want to, Lord, receive your seed, the seed of your word to really bear fruit, 30, 60 and 100 fold or God. Yes, Master, we come at ourselves into your mighty hands. We pray that you'll continue to, Lord, lead us into this truth and so that everything that is hardened, everything that is lying unused, Lord, will be turned, prepared for your touch and for your glory. In Jesus' matchless name, we pray. Amen. Okay, so we are continuing with the life skills. Yeah, hello to those who joined us during the prayer. Okay, I'm just going to share the notes now. And yeah, okay. Okay, so today we're going to look at money management. So we might say, okay, I wish I had more of it so I could manage it. But the thing is to manage it even when it's in short supply. Or maybe it's not as much money as we would wish and as we would want. But to be able to have a strategy for managing money, to be able to have some information on what I can do with it. So money is, again, money is not evil. Money is not something that is, you know, that's a curse. In order to have money is not something that you need to feel guilty about. We need money to function, to work in this world. And the Bible has a lot to talk about finances. We know that. We've learned in that other course, financial stewardship. So we know what God's heart is towards money and we should have the same thing as well. So in this chapter, we're going to look at a few practical aspects of managing money. Some things that we can put in place. Maybe you're already doing it. It'll be a reiteration of that. So the first thing is budgeting. So budgeting, simply put, it is how we plan, it is a plan where we say, okay, this is how I'm going to spend my money. Okay, even if it's, let's say, 500 rupees or whatever, you know, you're deciding, okay, this is how I'm going to spend it. So it's a plan. So we plan ahead and say, these are, this is my income. These are my expenses. And therefore, here's the plan. This is how I'm going to spend it. Okay. So what is our income? Okay. Income to a person whose salary would be the monthly salary. Income to a businessman would be, you know, whatever he or she comes or gets through the business and it can be a regular flow coming in, you know, maybe daily as in when payments come in from clients to the services rendered or products sold. And it could be that income in terms of people who are in ministry could be tides and offerings coming in and where you decide, okay, this is my salary. Okay. This is coming into the church, the church account and then the board decides or you decide that this is, this amount is going to be my salary to take care of my expenses. Right. So that's the income. Now, maybe you're not a working person. Maybe you're a student. And it could be your income would be what is being given to you through parents or guardians or whoever's sponsoring your studies. So income is what you receive. Right. So that is the income that we get. So it could be, there could be a duration of frequency through which we get our income. Right. It could be weekly. It could be, you know, okay, one lump sum which we get for managing our expenses for the next six months. Right. Like if you're a student, maybe, you know, the parents or guardians say, okay, this you take care of this for the next semester. This is amount. It could be that or it could be coming at various frequency. So it's important to know the frequency with which you get. And so you can decide how you're going to plan for it. Right. Okay. So when we are planning, it is good to be meticulous. So just want to say that the plan can be time consuming. Right. It will involve certain thinking through and maybe we have, you know, some of us enjoy that. Most of us don't. Right. Spending that time. But once we do it, it will be, it can be a template. It can be something that we can follow through. It doesn't have to change drastically every time. Right. So, okay. So we need to work now having worked on the income. The next thing is to work on or list down what is our essential expenditure and essentially sorry, essential expenditure on certain things that have a fixed price on it. Okay. So essential expenditure for for us. What are some things? Could be our accommodation, right, or rent. These are essential. These don't fluctuate. The price doesn't fluctuate. It's a fixed thing. Right. Whether you're staying in it or not, if you're actually, you know, planned out your accommodation, you need there's so much amount that goes out every month as rental or maybe as a lease. You know, and if it is, if you're repaying loan or EMI or mortgage, whatever, you know, so all this, it could be there. Then there are some bills like electricity, water, the bill for your internet, your phone, you know, all these are bills. And these also most cases, these are fixed. Right. So these are fixed. Along with that expenditures also could be something like insurance, like insurance for the vehicle. Maybe there's a life insurance that policy that you've taken. So these are fixed price. What we would call as a fixed overhead, right, rentals and payments and so on. Right. So these are something. So it's good to list these out and say, okay, these are my fixed overheads. These are my expenses. The next one is to list down what are factor in what are non fixed. Right. What could be actually varying month on month. Maybe it could be, you know, on a certain month there's a food expenses go up because the food cost is more or you're eating out more. Right. The food cost goes up and then maybe travel. Sometimes maybe you have to travel more and therefore that goes up. That's a variable again. Right. So things like that. So the best thing to do whenever we are listing down these expenses is to take and, you know, take the history. Okay. So we're not actually saying projecting, okay, this is how it will be. But you look at the history. You look at the last six months, the last one year. And you look at, okay, what has been my expenses? So that will actually give a clear picture. We can even arrive at an average. And so it's good to look at the history. So there's no guesswork. Right. Because this is what you've actually spent on. And the thing is, this is what you will in the future also if you're continuing in the same place, same lifestyle. So it's more or less, it's going to be the same. There could be variations, but most likely it's going to remain the same. Right. So it's good to look at the history. So whenever we look at budgets, we look at the past and then we factor in what could be some changes. What could be certain things that we are new things, new ventures that we could be going into and because of which we factor in those costs also. Okay. So it's good to look at the past. So the thing is, okay, I've not really kept track. You know, I just spent, as money came, I spent, I lived for the day, sufficient under the days, the trouble thereof, you know, and all those verses I miscoated. And so I don't know. Okay. So no problem. In that case, we need to actually look at what, you know, take a month, maybe the just the previous month, what is it? Just look back and see what is it that I spent. Okay. Maybe it will, it more or less, it could be fresh in our memory. We might miss out on a few things, but that will help us. Okay. So, so make that list that down as the expenses. The other thing to do, next thing to do is to, so actually delete our expenditure from the income. Okay. So this is the income that I'm getting. This is the expenditure. So I subtract the expenditure from the income and hopefully it is, there's some amount, you know, left behind. If not, also it's okay, right? Because it's not, you're not going to remain in the same place. You're not going to be remaining in the same place of income. Okay. So as long as you are faithful, as long as you are, you know, working faithfully, the Lord will bring increase. Okay. The Lord will bring increase, you know, so, so not to worry about that. Right. So subtract that from the income. So you get what is called as a, you know, as a discretionary amount, miscellaneous. Right. So this can go into savings. This can be set aside for maybe emergencies or, you know, unplanned expenses. We can use for that. Right. So this is a very simple, simple formula or simple template that we can use. Okay. So that miscellaneous, you can decide, okay, am I going to save it? If so, how? Okay. How can I save it? Can I put it in like a fixed deposit where, you know, banks have that or can it be a recurring deposit where there's a payment that I make every month. And where the return is more or if my, you know, discretionary in amount is more. Right. My salary levels are high. Well, where can I invest in? Right. Do I invest in land? Do I invest in maybe some shares? All these are possible. Right. So I just wanted to, you know, just remind us that we are being good stewards of it so that our needs are taken care of, your personal needs are taken care of, so that you can take care of others' needs also. And you can use it for Kingdom purposes as the Lord will lead, you know, for each person, the Lord has, you know, lead in a certain way personally and so you can use for that. So no need, there's no need to feel guilty when you think of saving. Right. So many people think, you know, maybe I should not be thinking about it. So it's a, it's a worldly thing to think about, you know, saving and all that. But the Lord, you know, we see in problems, go to the ants, go to the ants and learn what are they doing? They're working hard. But they're also saving for the winter months when they will no longer be able to go and find food like how it is in summer. So which means that there's a change in environment, there's a change in situation, there's a change in season. And so you're preparing beforehand for that season. So there's nothing wrong in preparing. So it's scriptural. Right. So when we read through problems, there's so much wisdom on how the simple, you know, how the simple just pass on and then they bear the consequences of it. But the prudent, weigh the matter, weigh their decisions. Right. So we can use wisdom. We can, you know, see what is, what is ethical? Right. What is gambling or anything, but what is ethical in order to save? What is ethical in order to multiply what the Lord has put in our money? What does the Lord has put in our hands? Right. Okay. Most important thing, let's learn to live with what we have. In that particular season. Okay. In that particular season, how can I use this, this X amount of money that I have? How can my lifestyle, you know, adapt to this? Or, you know, I don't want to, I want my expenditure to be extravagant when there is no income coming in. There's no money coming in. Right. So if that is the case, what would happen is that I will, I will most likely end up borrowing, taking a loan, right, to take care of the essential expenditure. And that's not a situation we want to be in. Right. Because at the same time we know that whatever we borrow, it has to be paid back. It has to be paid back with interest. And if it is like loan that is taken like a cash loan from money lenders, it is with very high interest. Right. So it has its consequences. Yes, there are certain cases where we take a loan, where we borrow, maybe for certain big expenditures, like maybe you're buying a house, or maybe there's a vehicle that needs to be bought, or things like that or land or whatever, where you make a plan and say, okay, monthly so much is required to pay back. Can I afford it? Can the essential expenditures, the fixed and the variable, can that be taken care of? Right. Very important. Because if that cannot be managed, then it's going to be a spiral, a never ending spiral of chasing money in order to pay the creditor. Right. So that's not a situation we need to be in. We don't have to put ourselves in that place. So the simple rule of thumb is, okay, this is how much I'm getting. What changes can I make? Now, we need to understand that it's not going to be forever. It could be for a season. It could be for a time, but you understand that with that in mind, I know that season is going to change. I know that the income levels will change. But with this what I'm getting, can I live my life? Can I change, suitably change my lifestyle so that I can live within the means, so that I don't have to go borrow by the end of the month for what are essential. Right. Okay. Now, there will always be inducements. There will always be a sale. There will always be an easy payback method. But don't be swayed by it unless it's a necessity. Especially when you go online, Amazon has a sale. There's an independent sale, whatever. There's always a sale. There's always some, just think about it. Do I need this gadget? Do I need this phone? What's wrong with the one that I have? Right. Does it serve the purpose? And so, you know, do that. Right. Any questions? No questions. Anything from the online students? Any questions at all? Because we're not going into the details, the specifics, like we did in financial management. But you know the, you know, the broad premise or the foundation based on which, you know, we say, we share this, right? When it comes to money. Okay. Yeah. So I would also say, you know, maybe if there's a workshop where you live, maybe there's something happening online, you know, on Christian professionals, something on handling of finances and so on. It'll be a good idea to do that. Right. To learn more, to see what are the avenues that are possible because many times we are, we are ignorant of the avenues for even saving, for even making our money work. Right. So these are some things that we can learn when we attend the workshop, when we do a course online. So we open to do that. And yeah, so don't think of it as worldly. It is not, right? As long as our intentions are clear, right? As long as our, you know, our, we are not putting our trust in uncertain riches, right? But we are trusting in the living God who gives us all richly all things to enjoy. Right. We see that in Timothy. So that's the guiding principle. Right. Okay. Okay. So let's look at another aspect which is management of people. Okay. So people management is also a skill. Okay. As managing time, managing money. So also when it comes to dealing or interacting with people, managing people, right? That is also a skill to be learned. So we see that money, time and people are resources, right? So if we use people, like we use things, well, they are resources, they are precious. But when it comes to, you know, ministry, when it comes to the workplace, we need to have the skill in order to work alongside and also to lead. Right. A lot of it we saw in Christian leadership. This will be some of those key things that we learned there we can look at. So we see that none of us are an island. We need to interact with people, especially when it comes to ministry, people are whom we are reaching out. Right. And when we reach out, we don't do that solo. There's always, you know, there's the body. Right. There are others whom God sends alongside who's talking to our lives, whose lives we speak into and we work together as a team. We see that the Lord Jesus, when he sent out people, he sent them out two by two. Right. And we see the teams becoming even more complex as we go through the episodes. We see Paul's team, Paul and Silas. And, you know, that's how they start off. Sorry, Paul and Barnabas. But then we see that there's John Mark who comes in, there's Timothy who's there. And then when we read Romans, the last chapter, we see the whole lot of people whom Paul was connected with, whom Paul was interacting with. And so, you know, so we see that, yes, people, there's no running away from people. Right. And we need to be able to work alongside and work, lead people as well. Right. So when we, when we study teams, we saw that when it comes to people, when we have more people, there are more resources. Right. When we consider people as resources, yes. Because each person brings fresh ideas, fresh set of skills. Okay. Now I might be strong in certain areas. I might not be able to do everything. Okay. But here comes someone who's strong in certain areas where I may not have that necessary expertise nor the skill. Right. What happens is there's synergy. Right. So their skill along with my calling, gifting abilities put together, there's major impact. There's great impact. The things that, you know, that was a challenge, it was a struggle to get things done now becomes a little more easier. It's more streamlined because of certain people in the team. Right. So, so there's always, you know, there's always benefits. It's always fruitful when we work together as a team. So there's, there's beauty and there's impact, high impact when it comes to ministering in teams. Right. At the same time, if not done well, right, it can actually pull down and end up in a big mess because there are people involved. Right. So that is something that we need to keep in mind. So in order to have high impact, it's good to work with teams and that we see as a blueprint in scripture as well. So maybe there's certain skills we have naturally, but what are those skills that we need to have? Okay. The first thing is, let's just list down a few things like organizing, organizing people, delegating to people. Right. Motivating people, motivating the team, then evaluating or assessing the effectiveness, the impact, everything. Okay. So first one is organizing. Okay. So how do we organize people around the common goal? I think we've learned it earlier, but also to have a clear vision. Okay. To have a clear vision, to make sure that okay, let me just put it on the chat to have that vision that is clear. Okay. To make sure that the vision is clear, the vision is communicated, the vision is reiterated and everyone is moving towards the same vision. Okay. So everybody knows, okay, this is what we are going after. Right. This is what we are going after. This is what we are called to achieve. So when the vision is clear, when the direction is clear, when the tasks that we need to do are clear, then everybody is able to focus, everybody is able to put their energy and effort after that particular task. Okay. If there is no clarity, then there is no, then the task, there's no effort or enough effort is not put in because you're not sure. Do I do this or do I do that? You run two minds. Is it good? Am I supposed to do it? There's no clarity. Right. But if there is clarity, when you know for sure, you're doing the right thing. This is the right thing. I need to put in effort. I need to put in energy into this. It's okay to do this. Then you will go all out and put wholehearted effort. Okay. So imagine having a team that's really working hard and putting in wholehearted effort towards the same thing. Right. That results in movement towards the whatever destination you have, whatever thing you need to achieve. Right. So organizing. So organizing, one is the vision. The second thing is how do we get these people? Right. How do we get the people? So several ways. If there are people already in the system or in the environment that you are, environment, we can say ministry. We can say it's a workplace. Right. We can say it's maybe a church. Right. If the people are already there, so the thing is to envision them. Right. Envision them towards the particular task. Okay. Get them or, you know, get their okay, get their consent. In other words, we're saying they are buying in. Saying, yeah, I want to. God told me the same thing. This is what we are going after. And I'm in. I'm signing up for it. I'm in. Just like the mighty men of David. They said, are you here? David asked them, are you here? Are you for me? They said, yes, we will do this for you. So when there is buy in. When there is loyalty, when there is commitment, then everything starts moving. That's the first. That I would say will be the second step. So vision is clear. There is commitment to move in. What happens if people are not there, then there has to be a method or process to get, to invite, right? Invite people towards the cost. Invite people towards the mission, whatever it is, towards the assignment, right? So, in practical terms, it would be, if it's a job, it would be a job interview. And you call for an interview and say, this is what we are. This is who we are. This is our vision. And so, are you interested? If you have these skills, if you have these abilities, then we'd like you to sign up. Why don't you sign up? Why don't you, you know, we can do this together. So, it's a invitation for an interview where we talk, find out, maybe test the abilities. The interview is also a right thing, right time to, you know, see what the motivations are, right? Because people could sign up for the interview for various things. You know, it's okay. You know, I don't really agree with it, but I need something. I need to do something with my time. I need some money. I don't really agree with it, but let me just sign up anyway, right? So, interview with the opportunity to check the motivation, to find out if it's real, to find out what the, what the heart's passions are, find out what the call is, to find out what whatever is there on the resume, whether it's true, whether it's, so an interview, you know, whether you're doing it on the phone, whether you're doing it online or in person, it helps to really reaffirm or reassure yourself that this is, these things are true, these things are, this is the right person for the job and so on, right? So, organize, right? Get people in, envision them, them committed. There is also an aspect of equipping, okay? So, people come with basic skills and abilities. Okay, I'll probably add this to the notes and put it up later. So, I think I'll do that. Yeah. So, there's also this aspect of equipping. So, people come in with basic skill sets, basic abilities and maybe the job that is required, job that is required to be done needs an upgrade in skills. But the skills which they have at the moment is maybe enough for them to learn, right? And you have the, you have the privilege of giving some time so that they can learn, they can be skilled, they can be trained in order to take that out. So, that is also another aspect of organizing people around tasks around a common goal, right? So, you're training them, equipping them and as part of the equipping, you're also giving them the equipment that is required. What are the tools that are required to get the job done? Okay, so that's another aspect of organizing. So, here are some people, maybe they are in the Department of Finance, do they have the skills? Do they need an upgrade in skills with these basic skills with regard to technology, with regard to whatever software package that they will be using for accounting and also, do they have the necessary equipment? Do they know, do they need a laptop? Do they need a whatever accounting software package to be installed in that? Do they have the know-how to operate it? So, these are all things, simple things like, if you're a cook, you know, okay, do I have the necessary equipment? Do I have the stove? Do I have the microwave? Do I have the things like that? Do I have the enough dishes? Do I have enough spoons? Do I have the ingredients? So, think in those terms, how can I get these people organized? Because we want them, the expectation is wanting them to do a good job, but unless we organize people around the task, around the common goal and give them the necessary things required to finish the task and do it well, it's going to result in frustration. You are frustrated, they are frustrated and it's not a good start, so organizing people. So, think through and say, what is it? What kind of people do I need to have? Where can I look for them? Do I look internally? Do I look outside? If it's outside, how do I invite them to be part of this mission? And then, what do I assist them on? Skills, abilities, qualities, characteristics, and then, do they have the same heart for the division and so on? And then, the equipping part. So, that is how we organize and organize around tasks. So, organize around, let's say, departments or certain core areas. So, it could be, like we said, finances, it could be maybe outreach, it could be media, it could be maybe creative work, like design. So, organize people around that. There could be some who are multi-skilled. And maybe for a season of time, they can actually take care of multiple things. But when the workload grows, you cannot expect the same kind of efficiency or the same kind of results. Why? Because the workload is more, the time taken is more, and they need to deliver within that same time. The quality differs. So, that is the thing. If people are multi-skilled, then for a season, they can take care of multiple things. But as, be mindful, as things grow, then maybe we need to add another person to that particular thing so that it's done well. So, organizing people. The second one is delegation. Delegating of tasks. So, these are things that you have on your plate. You have on your list. Now, how do you delegate it? How do you give it and ask the person to do it? So, any thoughts? How to delegate or how not to delegate? Paul delegated. We're doing a book study on Thessalonians in church. So, we see that Paul delegates some responsibility to Timothy. He asks them to go to Thessalonica, find out how they're doing, come back with information. He delegates while he himself goes to Athens. So, when we look at delegating, we look at capability of the person. Is that person the right job, right person for this, for this task? Because what are you, when you delegate, you're handing over. You're handing over a particular task, a particular responsibility and you're saying, do this. So, I want this to be done. So, the first thing is, do they have the, do they have the ability? Do they have the ability to do it? For example, like when Paul writes to Timothy about certain responsibilities. So, he says, you know, these are something that you need to look for, right? He says, talking about characteristics. He talks about ability, right? Like, testimony chapter three, a lot of characteristics there, character, a lot of emphasis on character and even about deacons, a lot of emphasis on character and also about ability. So, considering all that, considering the task at hand, is the person, the right person for this job? Very important question. Because if you're delegating to the wrong person and if it's a very critical job, critical task, then they're going to be consequences, right? Paul also talks about how he says, first Timothy three and verse six, he says, not a novice, less being puffed up with pride, he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Okay. So, this is a spiritual delegation or spiritual leader whom they are appointing. So, he says, among all the things he said, not a novice means, not someone who is new to the faith, maybe, who's got very less experience, right? For this particular task. So, he's made that assessment, you know, this person should be a mature person. It cannot be a novice. Now, yes, novices can be given certain tasks with the training and everything, but it could not, it cannot be this task, right? Which requires certain capabilities. So, which means that we assess and see is the person, yes, is the task, yes, is the person and then say, is the right person for the task and he asks them to do it. Okay. We can also start by giving delegating tasks that are not too mission critical. Okay. So, what do we mean by that? Which means that if they fail, it's going to have disastrous consequences, right? It's going to have big impact, the failure of that. So, when you're delegating, maybe for the first time, to someone, for that person, it's the first time that they're handling these things, always delegate certain things which are not so critical, find out the strength, find out how they do it, right? So, there may be the critical things, the things which are of most importance, which have a lot of, you know, if things don't go well, it's going to have a bad consequence, you can handle it yourself. Okay. But maybe certain things to find out the strength, find out the ability with which they do it and then we can entrust them with more. Okay. So, the temptation is to do that task yourself. Okay. Because it is difficult when you delegate and maybe, you know, you cannot take your hands off initially. We need to monitor. We need to see how they are doing, give some kind of a course correction, which means it's double the work now. Now, you're doing it, you're doing some other tasks, you've handed over this task, but then you need to monitor, initially at least, monitor to see how they're doing it. Do they need some more input, some direction, some correction, right? And then monitor that as well. So, it's going to take a lot out of us initially when we delegate. So, that's why many people say, okay, I don't want to delegate, I'll just do it myself, forget it. I'll just do it myself, you know, and then we end up not delegating, we end up carrying a lot of things ourselves and not giving it to others. So, other people can grow, other people can definitely make use of opportunities, they can grow, they can thrive, they can be an asset, they can be a great help, a great encouragement, a great support if we delegate it well. So, we delegate, we also assess or evaluate and monitor and see how well are they doing. Example, you know, when we have, like let's say, a worship team or somebody's preaching, we always give feedback and say, okay, here are some good things, you did well, okay, you came on time, you prepared, and you did these things, here are some things that can be done better, okay? Next time, just make sure you also cover these things, you know, this could be done better. And hey, these areas, maybe you didn't even think about it, but these are pretty important areas, you need to get that right. You know, these were wrong, this didn't come at the right time, so we need to do it, right? So, some feedback like that will always help. So, how am I able to give feedback only when I monitor? Only when I see, okay, how is that person doing it, what is them? So, we're not micromanaging and say, okay, every step, you know, but we delegate, we do monitor, okay? So, then it becomes, so that person, when what happens is when the person is sincere, they don't have any problem with the ability, they don't have every problem with the aptitude, okay? They're most likely to succeed, okay? When we give valuable feedback after delegating, they are more likely to succeed and they will do well, they will be a source of strength, okay? Third thing, motivating, okay? Motivating people towards the common ground. So, people being people, people not being machines have limited energy, also susceptible to certain distractions and also have life challenges, right? We need to understand that. They have ups and downs, right? They are people with emotions, they have ups and downs, they have families, they face challenges and all that happens. So, which means that when we are working towards a particular thing, if people are not really contributing, there's a reason, okay? The reason could be they don't know how to do it. The reason could be they don't want to do it. Now, that's a matter of attitude, okay? It's not a matter of learning. I don't want to do it. The other things could be I'm unable to do it even though I have the skill, I have the ability, right now I'm not able to do it because some things are challenging me. Emotionally, I'm being challenged. I'm being discouraged. So, many times we see Paul writing to the church to encourage, Peter writing to encourage, right? For example, I think it was Peter who says, you know, don't consider it strange that you're going through these fiery trials, right? Is that Peter? Or is it James? Yeah, so, yeah. So, Peter says, yeah, sorry. Yeah, so, so he says, yeah, don't think it's strange. No, this is actually about verse five, is it? No, verse four. Yeah. So, he says another place where he says that 412 first. Okay. Yeah, don't think it's strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings and so on. So, he's really, thank you for that. So, he's really encouraging. He's, you know, so he does that. So, there is that place of motivation, motivating, encouraging, inspiring, right? Just put all that together in order to go after the thing. So, people get tired, people get distracted, people get, you know, challenged and they want to give up because of various things happening in their lives. So, be aware of that. Okay. So, as a leader or as a person who needs to improve on people's skills, who needs to build people's skills, this is another one thing to take care of. So, things won't be automatic just because we have taken a highly skilled person, highly motivated person maybe, person with great attitude. We cannot take it for granted that they will always be firing, I mean, you know, doing really well and just going full speed. No, because they are people, right? So, there is that place where we need to find out why things are not happening and then motivate them, encourage them, right? And you will be very surprised when they know that, hey, the person whom I am working with understands, so he is on my side and he is willing to, you know, go with me on this, willing to understand why I am doing this, then they will actually do even better, right? A couple of other things, evaluation, okay, we looked at that. The last thing is the letting go part, you know, there are times when people have to be let go, many reasons, why? Because maybe the scope of their call has increased, God wants them to go beyond the boundaries of what they are operating on right now. Maybe it's not just the local church, but God has it for them to go beyond the local church, go to the nations, maybe it's a night netting thing. God was equipping them, now he is launching them into that, so be aware of that, right? Sometimes we let go because despite repeated corrections, despite being patient, they are not able to or they don't want to, okay? So, they are not able to, we provide opportunities to learn, opportunities to increase the skills, etc. Then they come to a place where they don't want to, I don't want to contribute, I don't want to do that, then there needs to come to a place of, you know, you being faithful to the task, faithful to the organization, the right thing to do then it's to let go. Okay, so we look at a little bit of that in the next class and also look at the next one, which is conflict resolution. So, I think you just kind of flow into that. Okay, so we'll stop here for today. God bless, bye-bye. Thank you very much. All right, God bless, bye-bye.