The Apostle Paul, a slight man, now advancing in years, through the power of the Gospel, through great love and compassion by the Spirit of God, had won the deep felt affections of all those Elders and Overseers of the church in Ephesus and all Asia. The entire Christian world including the churches of Macedonia, Greece, and the church at Antioch Syria held the beloved Apostle Paul in high esteem. Upon their hearing his words that they shall never again see his face, they wept and were deeply sorrowed.
(Acts 20:25)
It is the weak things of this world that many times God chooses to reveal His power through. As with Paul, a little old man, who commanded a deep love and respect from all the Saints, we too, through sound doctrine, humility, and godliness may win the hearts and minds of those who hear the Gospel from our lips.
Good servant leaders are in short supply today, but what a revival would be stirred-- if each of Jesus' Saints today, would take on the "loving servant mentality" that distinguished every great Saint of the New Testament. Becoming an effective Christian leader involves following Christ in His humility, in His sufferings, and follow Jesus in His love and compassion. People will then follow our leadership. If we truly hope to be a leader in the Church we must love and serve, and serve and love.
A leadership position should not be considered rank and privilege, but responsibility. Neither can we fear the delegation of responsibility, or delegating the required authority to carry it out. When we follow Christ we relinquish control to him. If we feel a need to always be in control of the situation, of our surroundings, of others, we will short circuit the ministry Jesus has trusted us with.
There is no room for pride in this business. We have no need of power. God has the power and controls all of it, allowing His power to flow through us; if that is, we are a suitable conduit. This is Jesus' ministry, not ours; we do not own it, for we are merely His agents and ambassadors.
Even as Christian Leaders we sometimes may have something wrong in our own spiritual life that is weighing down our witness like an anchor. Most times, other people are able to clearly see what our difficulty is much easier than we ourselves can perceive the problem. This is where trust and humility join hands, enabling us to openly discuss the issues of our heart with another, with an open mind gives us the ability to view ourselves from an outside prospective. A wise man has many counselors, and may I add that a wise man selects his counselors carefully.
Since my early teens I have met and admired many elderly men of God. Identifying what marked their characters as admirable and worthy of emulation took no deep thought, but was evident. These are the attributes each one of those men portrayed; a gentle and caring spirit, a loving heart, filled with the knowledge of God's Word, and an ability to convey that knowledge to others with a burning desire to do so. They excited in me the yearning for learning. They were all servant leaders, remembering always that they themselves are undeserving recipients of God's wonderful grace. When we see the traits of Christ lived out in the life of someone else, we long to become that way ourselves. We follow those people. They are Great Christian Leaders!
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! TRUST JESUS NOW
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