1 Extra Degree

In my leadership classes and student council, I would share with them a short video about how giving one degree more can make an enormous impact in their lives and the lives of others.  It went something like this:

212° – the extra degree

At 211 degrees, water is hot.

At 212 degrees, it boils.

And with boiling water, comes steam.

And steam can power a locomotive.

Raising the temperature of water by just one extra degree means the difference between something that is simply very hot and something that generates enough force to power a machine.

Seemingly small things can make tremendous differences.  This should feed your every endeavor and consistently push you to make the extra effort in every task you undertake.

212°…it’s that simple, yet so dramatic.

It’s your life.  YOU are responsible for your results.

It’s time to turn up the heat.

What if we took this concept and applied it to our Christian walk?  How would that look?

212° Service

Service is the lifeblood of any church.  Everything flows from it and is nourished by it.  It is not just an action…it’s an attitude.

That attitude comes from the Holy Spirit within.

Think of it like this:  what is the difference between a good restaurant and a bad one?

Good restaurants have good servers and good food.  To get good food, they have good cooks.

The servers are positive, empathetic workers who are eager to please.  They love people, their jobs, their boss, their co-workers, and they have been dutifully trained.

A good cook knows what he is doing.  He’s a cook…so…he can cook.  He pays attention to details.  He cares about his food – the way it tastes, its quality.  He learns about food and flavors.  Researches recipes.  He cares about his food, and he knows people have different tastes.  Some won’t like the dessert, and some won’t like the salad.  But a good cook follows his recipes; he knows sugar has no place on a steak – even if that’s what a customer wants.  He cares about the restaurant, the workers, and the customers.

A good restaurant reinforces their values and attitudes daily.  Their workers are well versed, and the customers who come in can clearly see that everyone displays these values and attitudes.  The entire atmosphere of the restaurant exudes it.

A church that is content in their service to the Lord is serving at 211°.

To serve at 212° means that you are always looking to do more to advance the Great Commission, be better, be more Christ-like, closer to one another, building each other up, acting as one body, ever in preparation to be the bride of Christ.

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many, (Mark 10:45).

212° Attitude

The only thing that stands between a Christian and what they want in life is the will to try it and the faith to believe it possible.

The difference in success or failure is not how you look, dress, or how you’re educated.  It’s how you think.

I’m not talking about the gain of material things.  This is not prosperity Gospel.

What every Christian really wants is God.  Some of you just haven’t figured that out yet.  It’s okay.  You just need to change your way of thinking.  You need an attitude adjustment.

This world is not our home.  We are just passing through here on our way to an eternity with our Lord and Savior.  That is why God should be our highest priority in life, not how much money we have, what kind of car we drive, how many selfies we can post on social media, or how much the world loves/envies us for any reason other than God.

 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God, (Hebrews 13:14-16).

Paul was probably never happier or closer to God than when he was in jail.

When you think about prison, is this a place of joy?

Well, all you have to do is read Paul’s letters and see that his attitude was in the right place.  He did not care about his own circumstances.  He thought of others and continued to teach and inspire.  He was desperately concerned about the furthering of the Gospel and the condition of his fellow believers.  He worshipped and praised God.  His focus was not on his own suffering, but on the love of Jesus.

Paul was a living, breathing example of 212° Christian attitude.  You must have the faith to believe it is possible to have this same attitude.

212° Leadership

You may not want to hear this, but YOU are a leader.

Oh, I know, you didn’t ask to be and you don’t really want the job.  Well, sorry…as a follower of Christ, you’re a leader to the world.

In some form, shape, or fashion…each of us is a leader.

Mom, you are leading your children…dad, you are too.  You’re also leading others around you who see how you are parenting.

Teachers, you are leading your students, their parents, and all you work with.

Grandma and Grandpa, you’re leading an entire family of relatives and many others.

Cashier at the grocery store, you are leading every customer you check-out, your co-workers and boss, your friends, and others.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.  Like it or not, you ARE leading someone.  Good leaders don’t whine about the fact that they are leading.  They just LEAD.

The 212° leader is humble and caring.  They show genuine love and respect.

Be ever mindful that you are influencing others.  Always.

Others don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

212° Love & Kindness

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “It is one of the most beautiful compensations in life…we can never help another without helping ourselves.”

The love of Jesus Christ changed the entire world.  That love is in you.

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends, (John 15:12-13).

Kindness flows from true love.  You will be changed when you allow that love to manifest itself in kindness.  You will be closer to Jesus.

It isn’t easy to do.  Satan is constantly at war with us.  He pushes us to allow pride, envy, jealousy, anger, frustration, a sense of justice, our own judgment of others, etc., to get in the way.  He doesn’t want us to act like Jesus.  Satan hates that.

How difficult would this be for you:  after you have been unjustly arrested, tortured, publicly humiliated, abandoned by some of your closest friends, and crucified – you earnestly ask your father to forgive these people because they don’t really understand what it is they are doing.

Well…that’s exactly what Jesus did.  That may be a level of love that is completely beyond your level of understanding, but know this – that love is inside you.  Let it change you, and you can change the lives of so many people.

212° Commitment

If you will spend an extra hour each day of study in your chosen field, you will be a national expert in that field in five years or less, Earl Nightingale.

Apply that to your walk with the Lord.  Imagine how you will grow if you make a 212° commitment to strengthen your relationship with Jesus.

It’s actually very simple to do.  Study, pray, and worship.  Seek the Lord honestly and you will grow as a Christian beyond anything you imagined.  You don’t have to spend an extra hour, just commit yourself to seek Him and it will change you.

You cannot get what you’ve never had unless you’re willing to do what you’ve never done.

212° Belief

Belief fuels enthusiasm, and enthusiasm explodes into passion.  It fires our souls and lifts our spirits.

What do you believe?

I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?, (John 11:25-26).

If you believe in Jesus with your whole heart then you know He has already defeated the grave.  He can most definitely overcome any obstacle you face.  Believe it.

Don’t be afraid to live with 212° belief.  Paul tells us in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Lead a life full of passion for the Lord and for advancing the Great Commission.  Such a life exemplifies unwavering belief.

Through our belief we conquer.

Crank up the Heat

Henry Ford was so right when he said, “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t…you’re right.”

Living your life at 212° for Christ really isn’t hard to do.  If you think it is, then you are letting Satan win the fight with you right now.  It’s harder to have the perseverance to follow through and maintain.  You must remember that the path is straight and narrow and many will work to knock you off your path.  Trust in God to give you the strength, faith, and grace you will need.

You don’t have to sell everything and move to Nepal to be a missionary, or knock on doors witnessing to strangers, or give a million dollars, or any other grandiose gesture (which are all good).  We are not all called to do the same things.  Think about your own spiritual gifts.  Cranking up the heat means to find everyday ways to use those gifts…every day.

I have no idea what the Lord has laid upon your heart to do.  But, you do.  Maybe you’ve struggled with doubt or fear.  Maybe I’m only talking to myself.  I don’t know, but I pray that someone out there receives a blessing from what God put on my heart to write about.  If the Lord has been calling you to visit the nursing home, call your sister, lead a Sunday school class, invite a co-worker to church, give that guy on the street holding up a sign something other than a smile when you drive by, take your neighbor some home-made bread, write, ask your father if he knows Jesus as his personal Savior, or rake the leaves from the yard of a wounded vet – then resist no longer!  Live 212°.

Don’t just be hot water.

Have the ability to power a locomotive.

It only takes 1 extra degree.

PLEASE comment below or email.  We would LOVE to hear from you.

SHARE this article with others.  Give that 1 extra degree.

God bless you!

Works Cited:  

Parker, Sam & Mac Anderson.  212°: the extra degree.  Simple Truths, Naperville, IL.  2006.