Faithfulness is the Right Heart-Set of a Leader

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Leadership Lesson: Faithfulness is the right heart-set of a leader.

But we often miss the lessons faithfulness would teach us because we are so eager to get out of the season we’re in and into the NEXT one.

A wrong desire to appear impressive, or even just weariness or boredom, can make us miss the genuine progress that only comes through faithfulness.

For God to entrust us with more or progress us to the next thing, we need to go through long seasons of developing character.

And one of His primary tools for this is faithfulness.

Will you keep showing up to the task God has given you?
Will you put in the reps?
Will you keep learning how to serve Jesus more effectively?
Will you get feedback so that your improvement is less haphazard?
Will you serve when you don’t resonate with this WHERE the Spirit has presently asked you to?
Will you tithe when you don’t understand why God wants you to?
Will you discipline your child when you don’t see how it will pay off later?
Will you faithfully humble yourself before people who strike YOU as prideful?
Will you faithfully learn from those God has called you to serve?

All of this is not to make you jump through hoops, but to develop a HEART-SET of faithfulness.

God Is Faithful

Jesus wants us to be LIKE Him, and He is faithful from the heart.

God fulfilled His promise:

To Abraham – That his descendants would inherit a land flowing with milk and honey.
To Joseph – That He would raise him up above his brothers.
To Moses – That he’d be a tool to deliver the Israelites from bondage.
To David – That though Saul tried to murder him, yet God would make him king.

And God was faithful to send Jesus to die for our sins and WILL BE faithful to send Him back when the time is right.

God will always do what He has said and will always fulfill what He has promised.

And He’ll be faithful to make us faithful (Philippians 1:6).

God Tests Our Faithfulness

If you’re in a test of faithfulness right now, you’re in good company: Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, Daniel, Timothy, and Paul were all called upon to pass the tests of remaining faithful in the face of great hardships.

You may think you can’t endure financial hardship for the next year, but you can save and spend wisely today.
You may think you can’t stay in your marriage for the rest of your life, but you can stay in it today.
You may think you can’t visit that parent with dementia every day for the next five years, but you can visit THIS week.

Joshua – A Model of Faithfulness

Want an example of non-glamorous yet powerful faithfulness? Take a look at Moses’ protégé, Joshua.

Joshua fulfilled God’s purpose in his generation, not by being splashy and cutting edge, but by applying FAITHFULNESS to many situations he’d probably have preferred not to be in.

The School of Faithfulness

For Joshua, the school of faithfulness included:

Waiting on and serving Moses for 40 years.
Sitting under the vision of another strong leader.
Serving as a soldier, leading men into battle, and watching real friends die.
Learning the ways of seeking God as he watched Moses in the tent of meeting.
Courageously believing when the majority of the people were doubting.

Where is God asking YOU to be faithful?

As difficult as it may seem, it is in these seasons of testing that the Holy Spirit is developing the patterns in our lives in which long-term success is built upon.

Truthfully, there is not much applause here.

How to do we win this season?

Keep obeying:

Even though it’s hard.
Even though your present context includes uncomfortable situations and ornery people.
Even when God asks you to do things that require you to humble yourself.

Faithfulness is the way forward.

Leadership Lesson: Faithfulness is the right heart-set of a leader.

Pray this:

Lord,

I’m so tempted to turn back. I’m tired of being here. I’m tired of putting up with this situation, these people, and these obstacles. But You have called me to the faithfulness that You Yourself modeled for me. Please help me be faithful. Help me trust that You are all-wise and are doing a good work in me. Give me spiritual eyes to see the value of faithfulness, and a faithful heart to better represent You and glorify You while I have time on earth.

Want to go deeper? Pick up the Power of a Focused Life series at the BibleLeadership.com store.

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