This 4-day track comes from an article written for Catalyst by Matt Brown entitled, “8 Habits of Healthy Spiritual Leaders.”

 

God calls, prepares and empowers spiritual leaders to lead His Church. Spiritual leadership is not a job for everybody. While every Christian is called to follow Christ wholeheartedly, and make an impact on the world around them - some are called to equip the Body of Christ as spiritual leaders.

 

Spiritual leadership is vitally important. People rise and fall to the level of our leadership. People are drawn into the Kingdom and drawn into Christian service because of faithful, healthy spiritual leadership.

 

It is so important for those God calls to spiritual leadership to be eager to grow into everything God calls them to be. We are called by a great God – may never be stagnant or half-hearted in that calling!

 

Over the next couple of days, use Matt's 8 habits to honestly evaluate where you are it regarding your personal and leadership health.

 

In the midst of encouraging, equipping and challenging those you lead, sometimes it's easy to lose sight of the very practical, everyday opportunities to make sure YOU are equipped with what you need to keep living and leading well.

 

Complete the challenges at the end of each day to help keep your leadership habits on track. 

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DAY 2 – Margins & Rhythms

 

#3 Set Healthy Margins

We must realize and admit that we cannot do everything. For everything we say "yes" to, we are inadvertently saying "no" to something else. So be careful what you say "yes" to.

 

Margin in the life of the leader allows space for creativity to flourish, thinking and decision-making to be possible, helps highlight the important over the urgent, and keeps you enjoying life and leadership over the long haul.

 

For some of you, you need to do way less unnecessary work. For others, you just need to plan an hour or two a day where nothing is scheduled, and be mindful of how much overcrowding you are doing on your daily task list (does it overflow into all hours of the day, everyday? Are you keeping healthy expectations for how much you can accomplish each day?)

 

#4 Establish Healthy Rhythms

It is not good to go through life and leadership always in 5th gear. We need to be mindful of our exhaustion and motivation levels, and refill our tank with rest, connection with others, and healthy rhythms so we can be effective spiritual leadership for the long haul.

 

There will be seasons that are busier than others, and in those times we need to watch for and guard our rhythms (healthy habits, time with family, etc.)

 

There will be seasons that will be slower than others, and in those moments we should not wish them by, but soak in rest to get ready for the next stage of the journey.

 

REFLECT: Answer the poll below.

 

How would you describe your ability to establish healthy margins & rhythms in your life?

1. Honestly, I don’t feel like this is possible
2. I keep meaning to, but haven’t tried
3. I start creating these but have a hard time sticking to it
4. I feel like I have created and kept healthy margins & rhythms