“The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours — it is an amazing journey — and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.” Bob Moawad

Today’s thought addresses one of the problems experienced in our current society. Far too many today take credit for the good in their lives and quickly find ways to blame someone else for the bad.

We also find the challenges of a culture that believes happiness is wrapped up in the external circumstances and the environment in which we were born. The result drives a mindset that “if only” the circumstances or environment were different, happiness could be found.

Recognizing that the quality of life is based on our choice raises the level by which we view life and the approach we take to it.

If we want to begin the life God desires for us, then let us live each day as the divinely given gift it was intended to be.

A mission refers to the objective or purpose to be achieved. Understanding this definition should cause us to ask, “What is our mission?

What is our objective or purpose? What are we really trying to achieve? Do we have a mission?

Sadly, as spiritual leaders, our mission often gets skewed because the mission becomes more about us than God.

It often becomes more about what we want to achieve, rather than what God wants us to achieve.

As mentioned before, there is a growing trend of extremism. The problem of extremism occurs when dealing with “party” issues, “petty” ideas, or “personal” opinions become the focus in our life. Far too often, we gradually lose sight of God’s mission.

This is why leadership must remain balanced.

Leadership must know and believe in the priority of God’s mission.

As leaders we must be honest enough to examine ourselves more closely and ask hard questions about whose mission we are fulfilling.

Let us arise and lead God’s people in unity, and let us work together to fulfill God’s mission.

To lead yourself use your head. To lead others use your heart.

There are two parts to consider in this powerful principle of leadership. The first involves an inward focus and the second an outward. Sadly, we far too often see leaders using the opposite approach.

To use our head in leading ourselves means we:

…think before we speak or act.

…consider the short and long term consequences of our words and actions.

…weigh the evidence and ask evaluating questions before making decisions.

To use our heart in leading others means we:

…devote ourselves to learning and serving the needs of others.

…prioritize our time toward maturity in relationship development.

…risk the temporary satisfaction for the eternal gain.

This principle of leadership is not always easy to put in place. There are going to be challenges internally and externally. However, if leaders worked to develop and practice a focus on the interest of others, we could change the future.

Leadership is worth the time we take to ensure others are prepared to stand before God.

Souls are precious. Let us always be mindful to lead others with our hearts. Think Souls!

Also known as a champion, upholder, backer, supporter, everyone needs an advocate. From a Biblical perspective, Jesus is our Advocate. The idea behind the Biblical definition involves someone to come alongside and stand in the place of someone else.

The intent is not to make this post solely about Jesus and His role as our Advocate. The intent of this post is to consider our position as leaders.

When people are struggling with their faith, do they know they have an advocate?

When we see people dealing with the challenges of daily life, are we there as an advocate?

When others are stepping out to accept responsibility, will we be an advocate for them?

Everyone needs to know someone will be there by their side to be a champion for them. Whether it is during a time of temptation, personal trial, or spiritual growth, leaders must be an advocate for those who follow.

The necessity of such is vital to the development of the Lord’s church. Christians need to know the Advocate we have in Jesus and they need to know the advocate they have in leadership.

When Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, he instructed Christians to “let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification…” (Ep. 4:29).

The challenge of any generation is living in a culture that gives little thought to the impact of words. The old acronym GIGO (garbage in, garbage out) identifies far more about the heart than we might want to acknowledge.

For developing a strong spiritual health, how can we fulfill this passage? Numerous answers could be suggested, but consider one simple approach: One particular family set up a coin jar where each time they yelled, it cost money. Imagine the impact if inappropriate language, words spoken in anger/frustration, or spoken in haste took money out of our wallet that we could not get back. Maybe we would learn to “think before we speak.”

This is the true root of the problem. We too often allow our mouth to run ahead of our brain, when simply taking a moment to think first, could resolve a lot of issues that hinder us from following Paul’s instruction.

“Positive thinking is not about expecting the best to happen every time but accepting that whatever happens is the best for this moment.” Author Unknown

The eternal optimist is a beautiful sound when describing of leadership character. We often associate the eternal optimist with the first part of today’s thought. Expecting the best to happen every time is an encouraging consideration, but not as realistic as we would like. One reason is because who and how the word “best” is defined determines the direction of our optimism.

The latter half of the thought helps direct the magic of positive thinking. As Christians, when we trust that whatever happens in our life is best for this moment, then we begin to look at each situation as an opportunity to learn and grow in relationship to God. This is where positive thinking is born and the results create a far better approach to a life well-lived.

Reflecting on the first week of 2016, may all our resolutions, goals, plans, or whatever we work to achieve be bathed in positive thinking in the truest nature of the characteristic.

At one time or another, we all feel a little less than our best. Perhaps we had a poor night’s sleep or we experienced “one of those days.”

During times like these we can become susceptible to a virus, our energy levels are lower, we feel achy, and we may suffer with a fever. Generally speaking, we do not feel well.

This post is not advocating that we show up to work when contagious and risk infecting everyone. However, Jerry West made an interesting statement, “You can’t get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good.”

We need to learn how to work through the times when we do not feel as good as other days.

Remember our purpose. Do not lose sight of why we are leading.

Put one foot in front of the other. At times, just getting started helps.

Focus on the goal. The result promises to be worth the effort.

Remain dedicated to finish. It is not how we start, but how we finish that makes a difference.

Leadership motivates us to show up everyday!

It’s not about changing them, it’s about changing us.

Give this principle thought. The general mindset of leadership is about changing others. After all, spiritually speaking, we are leading, right? The purpose of our leadership is changing others, right? Are we not supposed to change others?

However, before we can change others we must first change ourselves. It is far too easy to ask others to do what we are either unwilling to do or have not done yet.

The power of change begins with us. When we make changes in our own lives first, then we are setting an example for others to see why they should change also.

When leadership provides the example of change, then consistency is the model. Perhaps this is why God requires repentance of all.

A change of mind motivates the change of will, which in turn changes the direction of our action.

As leaders in our homes, communities, schools, jobs, and the church, let us first work on changing ourselves and then seek opportunity to help others change.

This week’s word means “to give an incentive for action.” We know motivation carries a similar thought within specific contexts. For example, “we need to determine the type of motivation that enable us to reach the goal.” Or, “motivation for the group is needed.”

Leaders encounter numerous challenges, and one of the most challenging is motivating people who appear to be unmotivated. Appealing to the unmotivated may take different forms, but we can start by asking a few simple questions.

Do the people involved know they are supposed to do a specific task?

Do they know how to perform the actions required?

When was the last time they were reminded?

Are the reasons these actions are important clearly stated?

Are there clear guidelines of the consequences?

Are regular evaluations of progress in place?

Once these questions are answered, appealing to the self-interests of others can assist in the motivation needed. Learning these interests lays a strong foundation for how motivate others.

Remember, as leaders we strive to lead someone from point A to point B. Determining how to motivate others in this journey is critical to goal achievement.

Perhaps the most difficult area to measure in Christianity is spiritual growth. The most common approach for spiritual growth is an increase in our Bible knowledge. This is why the push from the pulpit invites us to spend more time studying our Bibles.

Without a doubt, we need to grow in our knowledge of God’s word. However, knowledge of God’s word does not equate to spiritual growth, and we all know this is true.

Measuring spiritual growth, i.e. determining our spiritual health, occurs on the battle field of application. How many times have we heard or said that someone “knows better?” Their knowledge may be fine, but the problem is implementing that knowledge into action.

Far too often, the problem we face is not knowing how to do what scripture teaches. We need to find ways to bridge the gap from the first century writing of God’s word into the twenty-first century life. The task is easier said than done.

Over the next few weeks we will examine a few ways to make application of specific teaching in order to improve our spiritual health development.