BY REV. DORAL PULLEY
“Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.” – Psalm 26:2
Some people get nervous when they hear the word, evaluation. Just the thought of being evaluated causes knots in stomachs, palms to sweat and heart rates to increase. I have come to accept evaluation as a part of life. In the educational arena, as early as elementary school, students are given tests to evaluate what they have learned and their developmental process. Most jobs give their employees performance evaluations to determine if they are meeting the standards of their job descriptions and if people are eligible for promotion or a pay increase.
Regardless of whether the overall performance results of the evaluation are positive or negative, the evaluative process is always positive. Even if we feel the person evaluating us is unfair, the evaluation process is still productive because it gives us an indication of how other people see us. Even if we feel the evaluation did not adequately reflect all that we have done, at least we gain insight on some of the areas in which we need improvement. Evaluations give us a snap shot of our current reality.
Sometimes we are so busy with the demands of everyday life that we fail to take inventory of our various facets of our lives. The evaluative process causes us to stop and reflect on what is going on in a particular aspect of our world. It is very important for us to know where we are right now and how we got here. Unless we have a picture of where we are in this present moment, how can we determine where we want to go?
Evaluations don’t determine who we are, they just inform us of what we have or have not done. Evaluations don’t determine our potential for the future; they only reflect our performance with various roles and responsibilities up until this point. This week, we will take a more critical look at ourselves so that we can be the very best that we can be.
Rev. Doral Pulley is the senior pastor of Unity Temple of Truth Church, 511 Prescott St. S, St. Petersburg.
