Godly Leadership

"...whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant," (Matthew 20:26)

As I write this newsletter, the Olympics are in full swing. The Olympics have such a draw because it showcases the best of the best in athletic endeavors. The viewers of the Olympics see these achievements, but oftentimes fail to consider the years of practice, sacrifice and dedication that goes into being an athlete of this caliber.

One such athlete who achieved Olympic success in past events noted that her coach taught her a very valuable lesson in how she viewed her progress. She had complained to him that a particular day's workout was of little value, because she felt that it had not added anything to achieving her goal. He asked her if she was familiar with the Rule of Thirds. He explained that in her goal to achieve Olympic success, she would experience three different types of days: feeling good a third of the time; feeling OK a third of the time; and having a bad day a third of the time. The secret was to still show up each day because you never knew which type of day you would have, and even if it was a bad day it was just a third of the total effort. That was the price of chasing your dream or goal.

I like that principle. In any of our efforts in becoming like Christ - in being a spiritual leader - we will have good days, OK days, and bad days. We never know what kind of the day we will have, but we still need to show up because even a bad day is only a third of what we will go through in order to achieve our goal.

Jesus Christ knows this. He encourages us in Luke 12:32 by saying, "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Don't fear having a bad day, and still show up - especially when the going is hard. This is also the lesson of the Workers in the Vineyard and in the Parable of the Talents. We must show up each day to put in the spiritual effort, because if we don't we can begin to excuse not being engaged before the day has even begun. Then it is an easy step to have several days in a row where we don't show up, and if we don't change our focus, we can find ourselves on the wrong side of the door as we read in the Parable of the 5 Wise and 5 Foolish Virgins.

Consider each day what you are giving to become like Jesus Christ, and to lead as He does. Make sure to show up!

Here to serve,

Dan Dowd

August 2024