Gaining His Favor
On many occasions, I have pointed leaders to the passage in the Bible where John the Baptist is baptizing Jesus. The heavens open and there is a spiritual happening with audio where God’s voice was heard to proclaim, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17).
What leaders need to hear is that Jesus had not done anything yet! His ministry career, if you like, was just beginning. So many Christian leaders are caught up in “doing” rather than “being” a son or a daughter.
God loves you as a person even more than he loves what you do as a leader. It brings him pleasure just to think of you, and he longs to lavish you with his attention and his affection. There is absolutely nothing you can do to make him love you less—or more. The relationship you share is based on the character of God, which is unchanging. He loves you with an unconditional love based on his character—not yours. “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself” (Jer. 31:3 NLT).
There is a subtle erosion that begins to take place in many of us leaders, and we begin to question God’s intentions for us. We come to misunderstand what God intends of us and begin to compensate by “doing” more. By doing so, we lose track of some of the most important things in life and faith.
We become less convinced that it is all about being a son or daughter of Christ and that the cross is central to our identity as leaders. Our busyness and success in ministry trick us into thinking that it is all about us—when it is all about God.
Try inserting your name within Jeremiah 31:3. “I have loved you, ::__, with an everlasting love.” (So I would write, “I have loved you, Carson, with an everlasting love.”) Write it on your bathroom mirror using a dry erase marker (for whiteboards). Create a screen saver on your computer. Memorize this and other verses like it until they become part of your innermost being.
Prayer is our declaration of dependence on God. When we pray, we are acknowledging that we need the Lord in our life and it is critical to godly leadership. Many leaders jettison prayer time due to the demands of their position or calling. I think it is completely legitimate to ask any Christian leader how much time he has set aside to pray in a given week.