Discipline: A Desire For The Leader
Hey Friends,
As leaders we must be disciplined if we are to achieve all the Lord has for each of us and those we lead. A great diagnostic question to ask yourself regarding your current spiritual growth is: Are the disciplines becoming more important to you? If you are growing in Christlikeness you will desire the spiritual disciplines more and more. Do you have that desire?
Kingdom leaders must continually be developing a taste for the things of God. I have watched many leaders grow great ministries, only to fall into sin or not finish well. Why? I think many leaders that experience growth get too busy for God. But the more the ministry grows, the greater the need to draw closer to Him. Practicing the disciplines is how we experience Him.
Rick Warren said of spiritual disciplines, “They are the God-ordained means by which we bring ourselves before Him, experience Him, and we are changed into Christlikeness.” If God was a river, the spiritual disciplines would be the place we dive in. Remember, as Christ-followers there are no shortcuts to spiritual maturity or Kingdom leadership. Did Jesus ever take a shortcut? No way!
We will all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. Discipline weighs ounces but regret weighs tons. As leaders let’s not reel from regret, let’s embrace the disciplines that will help us grow. I Timothy 4:7 tells us, ”Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.”
Do you have a plan in place? If you missed the weekend message, Pruning Stuff, at FPC click here to download and listen to it. Included in the message was a list of the spiritual disciplines for you to use. Download the Personal Growth Plan Worksheet and get started on your plan today. It will transform your life!
Yours to count on,
Pastor
2 Comments
I’m reading a book by Mark Hall right now (Your Own Jesus). Yesterday, I read a really good analogy in the book. It talked about a huge tree by the fork of a river in Alabama. A healthy tree is roughly symmetric with large roots needed to support large growth above ground. The root system was related to growing in depth in the Word (or spiritual disciplines, imho). The branches were related to ministry and outreach to the world. Large branches with little roots causes the tree to fall over in storms. A tree with large roots with little branches isn’t really growing. Balancing spiritual disciplines and outreach is crucial. I thought it was a really cool analogy.
What a neat thought! That really sounds like a great book, do you think God imagined us when he created such wonderful living structures as trees!? That goes hand in hand with Pastor’s lesson for the weekend, good strong roots and limbs reaching to heaven, soaking up the Son….pun intended. Thanks for sharing, Andy.