I was reading a book on leadership recently and it began with the reminder that to be a Christian is to be a disciple. And the word disciple means to be a "student" or "learner" of Christ. I had to ask myself, am I still a "student" of Christ? Am I still growing? Am I still developing in my walk with Him each day? If I'm going to call myself a disciple/student of His, then my life needs to be marked with a lifestyle of learning.
So I decided to focus my learning on a different area of my life each day. For that day of the week, I focus on growing in that particular area. For example, on Wednesdays, I focus on growing as a pastor. It may include reading a book on pastoring in the morning, organizing and developing an area of church ministry in the afternoon, and following up on "pastoral" type email in the evening. Throughout the day, I'll also be staying open to the Spirit speaking to me through circumstances about lessons on growing in that area of my life.
So I created this list that I keep on my desk to remind me to grow as a disciple each day:
Investing my days to grow as a ...
- Sunday: Child of God
- Monday: Missions Mobilizer
- Tuesday: Leader/Servant
- Wednesday: Pastor
- Thursday: Preacher
- Friday: Teacher
- Saturday: Husband
I guess this is one way I'm trying to stretch myself to keep growing ... and to make sure I'm forever a student ... or disciple of Christ.
I think this is also a sign for me that God has restored a lot of inner peace and joy in my life through my sabbatical. There is excitement in learning again. At the peak of my burn-out, I dreaded looking at my books ... but now, I love devouring and dissecting them again (and filing them of course) =P My devotional times are a delight again ... approaching His banquet table filled with food that nourishes and satisfies the deepest part of my soul. Every morning I come empty to His table, but I leave full, filled and satisfied. I taste and see that the Lord really is good.
More of You, Lord; that is my desire ... only more of You.
 | Currently Reading Elders and Leaders By Gene A. Getz see related |
7 comments:
Sounds like a great plan, Eddie. Very easy for pastors to just slip into "cruise control" mode and become stagnant (speaking from personal experience here).
back to your infamous filing Eddie.. :)
Farout eddie you never seem to amaze me how much more room you make for growth!
I gotta get into it hard! *sigh*
hi eddie~ it's so good to read that you're doing well~ you're always always such an encouragement to me...^^ sounds like you've passed through the dry season and now u're relishing in the rewards of having endured it^^ thanks for not giving up~
Hey thats awesome man, always admired ur systematic way of doing things.
I like ur Saturdays =D
-peace.
That is such an amazing idea and it is encouraging what God is doing in your life.
good bumping into you and Hyun on Sunday. It would have been nice to catch up abit... Maybe next time aye? ~~
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