Momentum For Monday, November 28 2022
"Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice." (Ps 112:5)
My current class required me to interview three different leader's with over ten years of experience. So I asked three different women with differing proximities of relationship in my life. One a best friend and leader I respect, one a mentor that's poured into me for several years, and one a hero in the faith for over 20 years.
These women have a combined total of over 100 years of experience in ministry that I was able to glean from in my discussions. All three have different life experiences and even come from different ethnic backgrounds- Caucasian, Filipino, and African-American. Those two statistics of cultural diversity and tenure alone made me grateful for their viewpoints and knowledge. To say their overall advice is valuable is an understatement.
The discussions were rich. There was so much wisdom from them. However, there were two things I observed after my discussions that I feel are worth mentioning.
The first thing I noticed with all three of them is that they are generous. The give so much of their time, money, and resources. That observation provoked much thought. Is generosity the mark of a good leader? Then I made notations of all the good leader's I could come up with, and in my opinion, yes I would like to think so.
The next observation speaks to the quality and health of their ability to serve in ministry for so many years- the topic of forgiveness. Each woman I interviewed had seasons of their lives (if not multiple seasons) that I have personally watched walk out forgiving others in their lives after severe hardship. Perhaps some of the worst is when those closest to them, that they loved the most, betrayed them. If you've experienced that before, then you know it's heartbreaking. One of them went as far to say that forgiveness is the topic she studies most.
While I'd love to go on and on about my interviews (I truly could because I enjoyed it thoroughly), I felt those two observations where worth sharing. Do you want to be a good leader that can withstand the test of time? Be generous and keep working through forgiveness to prevent hard-heartedness. That's not an exhaustive list, but I believe it's at least a good place to start.
"Stop being mean, bad-tempered, and angry. Quarreling, harsh words, and dislike of others should have no place in your lives. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God has forgiven you because you belong to Christ."
(Ephesians 4:31-32)