How passionate are you for God? Or are you lukewarm? From time to time we need to make this assessment, and in case we fall short, we need to look for help.
Don’t broken marriages need a counsellor? Don’t the sick go to the doctor? And so must a child of God take help from people that God has ordained on earth to revive His children. This is where a leader steps in.
But then how do you know if that person can help? The answer is simple. You can only catch the fire of God from one who is on fire for God. Now that leader doesn’t need to be perfect, just like even the doctor who treats the sick is prone to catch the common cold.
Here’s a verse about leaders that we can mediate and learn from:
“Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” (Hebrews 13:7)
Honour Your Leader
The Scripture asks you to “remember”. In other words, don’t let your growth in God cause you to disregard your leaders. The Bible says a servant is never greater than his master (John 15:20). I may earn more than my dad but it does not mean he is now to be respected less and nor does it make him any less significant.
I remember when I use to help my mother with her English, she use to humorously say, “Don’t forget that I was the one who taught you the English alphabets.”
Let’s continue to give honour where it is due. At this moment I want to thank God for my senior pastor in Bangalore who taught me the Word of God, Rev. Dr. M. A. Varughese and the Bethel A. G. Church which God used to host the Holy Spirit in an unprecedented way in that time.
What about you? Who taught you the ABC’s of God? Remember to thank and honour those who taught you to love and walk God.
How to Learn from your Leaders
Studying from Hebrews 13:7, here are two things that God wants us to do to the leaders we look unto:
1. Consider their outcome of life.
2. Imitate their faith.
Notice, the word consider is not as same as imitate. You are encouraged to consider their life, knowing that there may be areas in their life that may be disappointing or not to perfection.
Yet there is always something about their faith that motivates and encourages us to run for God. That’s what is imitable.
So what is it that you can learn from your leaders? Grab hold of that what’s imitable and apply into your life. That’s your stepping stone for growth.
To learn from your leader, you must first learn to appreciate what God has deposited in their life. [Click to tweet]
When leaders disappoint
No, they are not perfect nor will they be in the next thousand centuries. But that’s what makes us human and not God. That encouragement is soon underlined by the next verse which comes as a powerful reminder to the body of Christ.
Hebrews 13: 8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.”
Now, that’s very clear, even as you consider the life of your leaders and imitate their faith (and not their weakness), it is still important to remember that only Jesus is the chief-Shepherd. He is the only one that is perfect, consistent and without change.
That means to lean on your leader as the ultimate star is akin to sitting on a stool of disappointment. [Click to tweet] However, grab the good. Grab what is lovely. Learn from their faith. Imitate their God lifestyle.
And when in doubt, remember Jesus is the only superstar and rest of us are only His servants desiring and working towards being like Him. And while we are at becoming like Him, continue to imitate the godly and the good.
