Sacrificial Leadership
Sacrifice is the down payment for leadership.
If you want to influence people and have them follow you with their hearts, they must see you lay down your life for them and the team.
In his book “Spiritual Leadership”, J. Oswald Sanders writes “To aspire to leadership in God’s kingdom requires us to be willing to pay a price higher than others are willing to pay.” This is called sacrifice. Jesus said that in order to be his disciple one must sacrifice comfort, time, and family relationships (Luke 9:57-62). And leaders should be disciples that live at a higher standard. So what should our sacrifice look like?
Sanders continues “The world is run by tired men…Even Jesus grew weary in ministry and had to rest (John 4:6)…If a Christian is not willing to rise early and work late, to expend greater effort in diligent study and faithful work, that person will not change a generation. Fatigue is the price of leadership. Mediocrity is the result of never getting tired.”
Some people want to circumvent the system – they want others to follow them before they have paid the price of sacrifice. That never works for long.
Let us become leaders who rise early, work and study hard, do the tough things others are unwilling to do, and then lead by example. Only then can we expect others to follow as we hold their feet to the fire, and say like Paul “join with me in suffering for the gospel” 2 Timothy 1:8
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If you want to influence people and have them follow you with their hearts, they must see you lay down your life for them and the team.
In his book “Spiritual Leadership”, J. Oswald Sanders writes “To aspire to leadership in God’s kingdom requires us to be willing to pay a price higher than others are willing to pay.” This is called sacrifice. Jesus said that in order to be his disciple one must sacrifice comfort, time, and family relationships (Luke 9:57-62). And leaders should be disciples that live at a higher standard. So what should our sacrifice look like?
Sanders continues “The world is run by tired men…Even Jesus grew weary in ministry and had to rest (John 4:6)…If a Christian is not willing to rise early and work late, to expend greater effort in diligent study and faithful work, that person will not change a generation. Fatigue is the price of leadership. Mediocrity is the result of never getting tired.”
Some people want to circumvent the system – they want others to follow them before they have paid the price of sacrifice. That never works for long.
Let us become leaders who rise early, work and study hard, do the tough things others are unwilling to do, and then lead by example. Only then can we expect others to follow as we hold their feet to the fire, and say like Paul “join with me in suffering for the gospel” 2 Timothy 1:8
.
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