SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP part 1

For many years I have heard many women in the church say they wished they had more of a spiritual leader for a husband.  In response to that I have had many men ask me over the years what does a spiritual leader look like?  In the next several blogs I want to address this subject.

First of all, the simplest definition of a leader is "influence".   All of us have a realm of influence.  If we are a father, mother, boss, supervisor, small group leader, teacher, student, all have someone who are watching us and being influenced by us.  So spiritual leadership is not isolated to just men.  We all have to own the message of spiritual leadership.

So what does scripture say to us regarding spiritual leadership? Moses writes to those who lead, in  Deuteronomy 6,  that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart soul mind and strength.  It is easy for some of us to love God partially.  We can love God with our head or we can even perform for God with our strength but if our heart and soul are not in it then it is empty obedience.

The church at Ephesus was at risk of losing their influence for the kingdom because they had lost their first love.  They had their theological thinking in the right place and certainly put their effort into working hard, but they lost their passionate unconditional love for God.

The point is this.  What separates spiritual leadership from any other kind of leadership is the need to be "all in".  There must be a holistic approach to loving God or our spiritual leadership becomes weakened and ineffective.

So when is the last time you told God how much you love Him?   Where has your passion gone?  Has it been stripped away by unconfessed sin.  Has it become calloused and taken for granted because you have known God for a long time?  Is it time to repent and do the things you did when you were first in love.