Ever feel like your life is a constant battle? Want three keys to turning those battles into minor skirmishes? These battles are where the enemy seeks to render us ineffective in our work for our Lord. Scott reminds us that God is the owner of all aspects of a true leader’s life and calling. Releasing the ownership of these aspects to God’s capable hands gives the leader a great freedom from slavery to the responsibilities. This way of leadership is a journey of disciplined practice that leads to selflessness and being more Christ-like.
Fall follows Summer, which follows Spring and time marches on just as God designed. He limited time for us in set hours in a day, and set days in a week. We think there are not enough hours in a day, but God knew before He created time how mankind would use it. Scott discusses some poignant points about time management, and notes that pride may be the greatest weakness regarding the use of our time.
Everything we do in life and leadership must flow out of being in relationship with God! Doing comes from being: Being in relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is above all, and it is out of this relationship that we do.
We millennials need to realize our own callings, based on God’s Word matched with the calling and capabilities He has given us (1 Peter 4:10-11), or we won’t end up doing anything significant in this short life we have. We cannot waste any more time comparing our own lives and callings to those we see around us.
Do you ever feel like you’ve stumbled into your leadership role? Take for example, Queen Esther. She pretty much fell into the role of queen, and never intended to be such a powerful and pivotal figure! God knew her courage, her devotion to Him and His people, and He knew she would touch the heart of the King.
As you are seeking your calling, it is in the day-to-day work that you will begin to realize your purpose, not in your purpose that you will start defining your day-to-day work.
If I would not have mustered the courage to risk my comfortable life and pursue my calling, I would have missed seeing what God had been orchestrating all my life.
Dogs are exuberant in their joy. They exhibit it when they see you coming. It never matters how long – it could be ten minutes or ten hours – their joy is just as exultant. They know their purpose is to share that joy with you. However, it’s easy to get to a place in life where you forget the joy that you first found in your role. To rediscover that joy, leaders may only need to take a step back, and find the purpose and vision that God designed in what we are doing. We can have exultant joy.
Sweet apple blossoms in due time bear succulent fruit, just as sage advice from experienced leaders and emerging leaders bears much fruit in due time when taken to heart and applied. Time does not automatically develop leaders but leader development always takes time. There are no short cuts. Here, Malcolm has gathered some of the wisest and best advice from participants in LDC 2013.