Comfort Zone

Leadership is never static; it is either expanding and moving us outward beyond our comfort levels or it is contracting and moving into a zone of complacency.

When leadership gets comfortable you may be relying on experience instead of pushing yourself to grow. if you find that you are taking the easy path in decision making then you must examine your motives and the effectiveness of your leadership.

Leaders must always be growing. Failure to grow beyond yourself and your experiences will limit you and the group that is following you.

Don't take the easy path...search for new ground. Answer the following questions as a marker for where you are on your leadership path:

• In what ways have you specifically stepped outside of your comfort zone in the last month?

• What opportunities have you failed to take advantage of because you were unsure of the risks involved?

• What benefits would come to you and your group if you would move from your comfort zone?

Jesus, the greatest leader of all time refused to allow His comfort to diminish his capacity or keep Him from accomplishing His mission. Remember the words that drove the Apostle Paul to embrace the risks and fears that lay before him:

• "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:13)
  

Do Nothing!

It is so hard in our busy society to rest. Rest was a gift given to us by God when He first created the world. He worked six days and then on the Sabbath He rested. Was God tired? No, but He wanted to set a pattern for His creation from the beginning of time that we need to add rest as part of our lifestyle.

In Genesis 2:3 NIV it says, "And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." Not only did God set in motion the need for rest, He even elevated rest to a place of holiness. Why, because it is in resting that we have to time to acknowledge the working of God in our lives. In rest we have a moment to express gratitude for all that God has allowed us to accomplish. In resting we draw strngth to accomplish even more for God and His kingdom.

Rest also infuses the mind, soul, and body with strength and creativity. If we push ourselves and fail to rest we find that every area of our lives begin to suffer. If we fail to rest our bodies are more prone to disease. If we fail to rest our minds are susceptible to depression and we begin to lose our ability to have joy in life. If we fail to rest our souls then we become more vulnerable to temptation.

Yes, rest is a holy thing and needs to be embraced as such. Every good leader understands the priority of rest for those they lead and for themselves.

The Path

The essence of Christianity is to stay true to the path. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except by Me." All of my endeavors are focused to stay on the path that Christ has walked before me.

As a leader my endeavors are also focused to stay true to the path that is before me. As a leader my vision must stay clear and not become unfocused by what is happening on the peripherals . The goals must be aligned to the vision and used as guides along the path. My energies must not be spent on that which will not propel me further down the path. On occasion the leader must pause on the path and evaluate the journey and make the necessary adjustments to stay the course.

The Kingdom Come....

Jesus has called all of humanity into a relationship with Himself. Those that accept His call find a King that doesn’t rule over us but rules within us. His kingdom has no borders, no limits, and no barriers. He rules in love, transforming each of His subjects into His own likeness and sends them out to invade the kingdom of darkness. His light, displayed through love, is an unstoppable force that defies every tyranny of hatred, injustice, pride and the human ego. We, his loyal followers, cry out, "Save us and send us so that all men may be free."

Hard Things

Whenever we have a vision of someting greater than ourselves the "hard" things we face then becomes a mere stepping stone to accomplish the impossible

By The Spirit

When you are a spiritual leader you do not rely upon the sheer power of your personal influence to motiviate people. Instead, you use your gifts under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and then the people have been influenced to God's will for thier lives as well.

Three Response To Failure

As leaders we should never be immobilized by failure or by making a mistake. Instead we must embrace them by first admitting them. Second we use them as a reference point to make us wiser. Lastly, a great leader will never make that mistake again.

A Strange Attitide

Why is that we only believe that we see God in our successes....isn't that a strange way of seeing our leadership when we have a cross as the focal point of our faith?

Authentic Leadership

A Christian is someone whom God has chosen to become like His Son; authentically reflecting His character and conduct in all parts of their lives.

To be authentic means “conforming to the original" that requires that you and I be conformed into the image of Christ. That is God's plan for every followers life according to Romans 8:28-29 (NLT): “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and (who) are called according to His purpose for them. For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son...”

For the Christian leader that means conforming to the image of Jesus Christ in every aspect of our leadership. It means becoming a little more like Him as time goes on.

• Walking in His steps
• Talking as He talked
• Loving as He loved
• Forgiving as He forgave
• Enduring as He endured
• Praying as He prayed
• Leading as He led
• Serving as He served
• Loving as He loved
• Dying as He died

True Christians leaders have always prayed, “Make me more like Jesus.” If you want to be a credible, authentic leader, take a good look at the Son of God. Pirece through your own biases, failures, personality traits, education and expreiences and truly see the heart of Jesus in every aspect of leadership. Make every effort to...

• Become like Him
• Make Him your model
• Study His life
• Follow in his steps

Ask the Holy Spirit to reproduce in you all of the essential leadership characteristics of Jesus. If you don’t know where to begin, I urge you to use this prayer in your devotions every week:

Heavenly Father, I invite you to shine the light of your truth into every part of my life. Thank you for knowing me completely and loving me anyway. Search me, try me, test me, and show me what you find. Where I am not honest and true, do whatever it takes to make me credible and authentic so that my life will bring glory to you. Make me like Jesus so that people who follow me become more like him. Amen.