Hey Leaders,
I am writing directly to those of us who LEAD in any capacity and at any level both spiritual and corporate or otherwise
I embraced my calling as a Leader sometime last year, and one thing I do know is leadership is HARD, and this is especially true as a Christian who wants to lead and love like Jesus.
I think I only started to very personally experience its hardness recently and honestly, it pushed me to a FAST.
Guess the result of it?
Me, becoming MORE LIKE JESUS.
Honestly, I would not have it any other way.
Just seconds before I started this post, I was having a conversation with the Holy Spirit and telling Him that I am actually losing myself and I miss Eziaha.
And then He nicely reminded me of the 40week long study my WILD sisters are doing corporately (we are in Week 12 yawl) called 40 DAYS OF DECREASE by Alicia Britt Chole, and how the anchor scripture for it is John 3 v 30
He MUST increase and I MUST decrease
So if I am feeling like I am losing myself, then welcome to the NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE haha.
Here.
For.
IT.
Ok, so if you are a leader feeling pain, I have a WORD for ALL OF US from Brother Paul
So INSERT YOUR NAME, throw yourself into this work for Christ. When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us the way Jesus did. Endure suffering along with me as a good soldier of Christ…
2 Timothy 2 v 1 and 3
Then get on YouVersion Bible App and search for devotionals relating to Leadership and Pain
I recommend you start with Sam Chand’s and then find Help me Grow my leadership Capacity by Brian Houston.
Then enter a study of the fruits of the spirit and make sure you submit to letting those fruits be PRODUCED in you, as you walk out daily experiences that God will let come to you so you can TEST yourself.
Then let the Holy Spirit continue with you from there.
Lol.
And you MUST be obedient and yielding ooo.
We all must be…
But this is not even why I am here
I wanted to QUICKLY talk about our MOTIVES as leaders.
“You are the light that shines for the world to see. You are like a city built on a hill that cannot be hidden. People don’t hide a lamp under a bowl. They put it on a lampstand. Then the light shines for everyone in the house. In the same way, you should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16 ERV
Let me keep this as practical as I can, sharing stories
Two weeks ago, a friend of mine, Onyi, put up this picture on her whatsapp status.
I was SOLD and BOUGHT.
I responded and asked her what Bible it was, and she told me it was the KJV Word Study Bible and then Jounral Bible.
A Bible we could write in? That is the Journal Bible
And then that KJV Bible had Greek and Hebrew root meaning of 1700 Key words?
Errrrm, I put pressure on Bimz and Toolz, both my super super mentees, and a couple days later, we had found both and had it delivered to my home.
In less than a week of having both, my Bible study has entered NEXT LEVEL.
This is not about my Bibles, but more about Onyi’s action
She had said that she felt somehow sharing her personal Bible time on her whatsapp status but seeing how this led to me getting ridiculously blessed, she was glad she did.
And it surely taught me, that really, while our motives matter, let us QUICKLY purify our motives, and move on QUICKLY to allow our pure Spirit-led actions be a blessing to the world, and our world.
Can I quickly say something?
All your actions have the probability of being judged either right or wrongly.
Everything you do as a leader will be put on the scale and weighed.
Sometimes, people will judge right.
Other times, they will be right.
Their perception of me, I have learned, is really not my wahala to deal with.
I am responsible for what I do. They are responsible for what they think of it.
However, in my doing, I must do it from pure motives.
Look closely at yourselves. Test yourselves to see if you are living in the faith. Don’t you realize that Christ Jesus is in you? Of course, if you fail the test, he is not in you.
2 Corinthians 13:5 ERV
This world needs JESUS, and by that, I mean PRACTICAL JESUS.
Truth is, this world needs EXAMPLES and I do mean PRACTICAL EXAMPLES.
In mentoring people, I am completely taken aback by just how some of them are oblivious of the littlest things, and the ONLY way I can help them is to SHARE as practically as possible from my life.
Is it possible that some would interpret my actions as show off?
Yes.
But like I said, that is their business.
What I need to make my ultimate business would be my motives, because God didn’t invest all of these in me for me to be claiming HUMBLE and shrinking all the time
In my private study, I learned that TRUE HUMILITY is rising to the FULLNESS of myself in Christ.
What this means is that I get to live a life of full and complete obedience to God and not always let my flesh and motives get in the way.
Take those motives to Jesus and stay on your face until he has completely rid you of flesh (as much as is possible this side of heaven) so that your ‘let your light so shine’ actions can be fully lived out on earth FOR MEN TO SEE AND BRING GLORY TO GOD
I am now completely divorcing myself of false humility and impure motives.
Daily, I see how influential my life is, and it brings me joy to help many women gain some mileage in the spirit. I only do this well when I don’t shrink or choose to be ‘humble’.
I want to partner with God in shining my light fully, so I am constantly checking my motives and doing what needs to be done.
I love what Paul says to the Philippians church here
Yes, some people are preaching Christ and all our spiritual actions out of the wrong motives BUT Christ is still preached because the message is POWERFUL but I miss out my reward because God is looking at my HEART.
Obviously, not everything that happens in my life makes it to the stage but as a Leader, I KNOW that sharing JESUS practically is part of the call. But in sharing, first I must be sure I am AUTHENTICALLY living it out in INTEGRITY privately, and then my motives for sharing are PURIFIED!!!
I love something I learned in Bible school recently. One of the mentors said God is a capitalist, meaning He will invest heavily in me and then come back looking for His return on investments.
That is MAJOR.
Part of my ROI is changed lives from my own life and actions.
Part of how I change lives is to share my testimonies, my behind the scenes, my backstage, my failures, my wins and more.
Of course I must be sure to share appropriately: right info, right platform.
But this secretive life we all want to live with our Jesus, ko le werk…
I mean, I cannot be so full of Him and not show Him.
I am unbelievably thankful for the many people who share from the FULLNESS of their own private lives. When I hear some stories of spiritual disciplines of some people, I am inspired to go for GOLD in my relationship with JESUS.
I am thankful for those who take those pictures of their Bibles highlighted in 1m colors, and those who share their notes publicly on YouVersion so I am blessed. I especially love this one I saw from a friend Kibie recently. Blessed me so much and I am thankful she shared
I am thankful for those who share with my how they are navigating the instructions God gave them, even when it looks like they are showing off. I can ONLY pray that their motives are right and pure, and that God raises up more and more people who will go PUBLIC with Him without flesh and self getting in the way.
Guess what? I want to be a part of those people. I want to see more changed lives and if my telling you that I have 10 study Bibles will lead you to get one and start to go deeper in Bible study, that is a WIN right there.
So better believe that daily and privately, I am putting myself to the test so that I can truly shine my light.
Look closely at yourselves. Test yourselves to see if you are living in the faith. Don’t you realize that Christ Jesus is in you? Of course, if you fail the test, he is not in you.
2 Corinthians 13:5 ERV
He is NOT a secret to be kept, so let us QUICKLY purify our motives, deepen our spiritual maturity and go PUBLIC with this one, with wisdom, grace and of course LOVE
Remember,
Cheers to showing JESUS off, baby
From my grandstands,
Eziaha