As a Christian leader you lead in the name of Christ, on behalf of Christ, in the spirit of Christ, and for the glory of Christ. This can be done only as you lead with a Christly love. (Google image, Holding Bible).
Love is the hallmark of every Christian. He who does not love is no Christian (1 John 3:10, 14; 4:8). The more nearly pure and perfect your love for others, the more Christlike you prove yourself to be.
Every Christian is to love with a love like Christ's. His love is infinite, ours is finite; His is perfect, ours is all too imperfect. Yet our love, like His, must be personal, practical, holy, self-giving, and sacrificial.
Love is God's seal upon every Christian; it is the all -important seal upon you as a Christian leader. Though you posses all other leadership abilities and leadership skills, you are not qualified to be a Christian leader until you love those you lead with a Christlike love. 1 Corinthians 13 is essential for all Christians; it is the all-essential standard for you.
You Must Love with a Christlike Love Because:
1). You were created to love. You were created in the image of the God of love. You were created so Godlike that you have the capacity to respond to and understand the love of God. Your whole being, when touched by the Holy Spirit, can receive and, to a blessed degree, transmit God's love to others.
God rejoices to receive your love, and He rejoices to see you share His love with those He also loves so dearly and infinitely. He finds holy satisfaction in your love to Him and your love to others.
One important way you love Him is to love others, especially those you lead. The more you transmit and express His love to others, the more He can flood you with love and the more fully you will be able to share the love He expresses to you.
The only agape love you have is what you receive from Jesus. We first saw God's love in Him.
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved
us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our
sins" (John 4:10).
Love is incarnate in Jesus—visible, constantly active, and self-sacrificing unto death. You love because you have seen this agape love of God in Christ and because that love has so transformed you that it expresses itself through you.
3). The Holy Spirit pours this agape love of God into your nature. Paul describes it beautifully:
"God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy
Spirit, whom he has given us" (Rom. 5:5).
He fills you with his Spirit so that He can pour His own holy nature of love through you as a constant, abundant, gushing river. This is the chief stream of living water that Jesus promised you (John 7:38).
The more you pour out, the more He pours in—ever fresh, ever new, ever cleansing, ever transforming, ever filling, ever Christlike, ever reaching out to and blessing others. Oh, what a life and leadership of love as He pours in as fast as you pour out!
Love is the essential ingredient for all Christian service. Love is the key for all Christian success. Love is the fragrance, the glory, and the power for all Christian living. Love makes a leader a shepherd. Love makes a witness an ambassador for Christ. Love makes work for God a ministry.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Used by permission of the author and Duewel Literature Trust, Inc., Greenwood, Indiana. Creative reading style by Jean.
Ablaze for God
#24 Love - The Secret of Your Leadership
by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
(pp. 95-96) ZondervanPublishingHouse
[Let it be known, that whatever we do as a child of God, as a parent or other type of "leader", we are to demonstrate Christ's love].
Lisa Buffaloe
Father, we ask for Your Holy Spirit to move on and in us, that we will humble ourselves before You, admitting our inability to love You and others, as You would have us love.
We realize all too well, that our love is imperfect, and we understand that it must be personal, practical, holy, self-giving and sacrificial, to be like Jesus.
We ask that You pour Your agape love into our natures, so we can begin to love You and others through our leadership opportunities.
We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.
We realize all too well, that our love is imperfect, and we understand that it must be personal, practical, holy, self-giving and sacrificial, to be like Jesus.
We ask that You pour Your agape love into our natures, so we can begin to love You and others through our leadership opportunities.
We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.
Today's Bible verses-
“How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People
take refuge in the shadow of your wings.” ~ Psalm 36:7
“Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind.” ~ Psalm 107:8“How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People
take refuge in the shadow of your wings.” ~ Psalm 36:7
Today's quote-
Xochitl Dixon- "God created His followers to prayerfully support and encourage one another. But He also affirms He is always able and available. When we call on God, we can trust Him to keep His promises to provide for us. He will comfort us through His people as well as through His personal presence."
(Taken from Our Daily Bread®, © 1/30/2018 by Our Daily Bread Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. www.odb.org)
Today's question-
Are You tending the "garden" with diligence, which God's given you?
The truth is, we've been given various "gardens" to tend, and our attention to them is of utmost importance to God. He assigned them knowing ahead of time what our choices would be.
What are they, you ask? Are you a parent? Be a good one, as that is what the Lord is concerned with for you. Do you have a particular job that gives you the responsibility to be diligent and trustworthy? What about a ministry the Lord has asked you to be a part of? Do you seek to honor Him in it, and try to accomplish what He directs? Are there outside interests that effect how you handle your "garden"?
What our hearts are most set on can show what we value the greatest. If earthly "things" and activities have taken front and center in our affections, God asks us to dedicate ourselves to Him first, and to become more involved with kingdom concerns.
It is to His glory that we are His children and are alive and able to serve Him. Let's not put things of value, to be of more importance than serving and obeying the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's allow God's love to fill us; Christ is coming soon!
It is to His glory that we are His children and are alive and able to serve Him. Let's not put things of value, to be of more importance than serving and obeying the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's allow God's love to fill us; Christ is coming soon!
Upcoming posts-
The Price of the Promise
3rd- Saturday's post by Lee Forbes
#25 Ablaze with a Passion for Christ
6th- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
#26 Loving Jesus will Transform Your Life
8th- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
A Barrier in Times of Trouble
10th- Saturday's post by Deborah Chace-Lauther
(Jean's published book)
awesome post
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