Leadership in the church, a business or any other area of society can be draining at times. There is the constant task of keeping people on track with the vision, keeping multiple projects moving at any given time, and dealing with challenges and obstacles on a regular basis.
Maybe you don’t feel like much of a leader, but my guess is that you are leading people more than you realize.
One of the greatest challenges of leading people is keeping yourself refreshed with inspiration, motivation, vision and passion for what God wants to do through your efforts.
Here are three helpful ways to stay encouraged as a leader.
1. Allow God to encourage you through his Word.
There are thousands of consolations from God in his Word for whatever we will face in our life or leadership. We need look no further than Scripture to find the constant encouragement we need for life and ministry.
Maybe you are going through your leadership journey and feel that something is missing. It would be important to ask, “Am I getting enough of the Word of God?” When we get into the Word of God and make unhurried time to seek the Lord in his Word, he will always meet us there. We will go away from that place more encouraged than we have been in a long time.
Make seeking God in his Word the most important habit in your leadership—even if you are a business leader—and you will be blessed in countless ways I cannot even begin to express.
2. Find a friend who encourages you.
We all need others. None of us can do this on our own.
David was constantly being encouraged by Jonathan (1 Sam. 23:16), who believed in the calling and purpose of God on David’s life. Who knows where Paul would’ve been without Barnabas encouraging him (Acts 4:36; Acts 9:26-30), believing in him and introducing him to other leaders?
Both of these mighty leaders had and needed an encourager, and each of us does, too.
I’m not sure what the obstacles or challenges you are facing in your leadership, but what if one of the pieces missing in your leadership is the encouragement and prayer support of a good friend?
None of us will ever get beyond the need for the body of Christ to be the body, and for good friends to support and help us in the work still needing to be done.
3. Encourage yourself in the Lord.
It is said that in one of David’s moments of trial in leadership, he “encouraged himself in the Lord” (1 Sam. 30:6).
This is a quality every leader needs to develop in their arsenal. We cannot depend only on the encouragement of others, but we need to ask God to make us people of vision, hope and joy for the sake of those we lead.
It takes just as much energy to look at the bright side of all God is doing in our lives and ministry as it does to stay depressed at the obstacles we are facing. Choose to practice the habit of encouraging yourself in the Lord. Get excited about what God is doing in your life. Be encouraged by the hand of God working through your leadership to bring about positive change and good things for those you lead and the people you are seeking to influence.
Leaders need to seek to spill out vision with whomever they come into contact with.
Matt Brown (@evangelistmatt) is an evangelist, author and founder of Think Eternity, an evangelistic ministry that reaches thousands of people with the gospel each year through live events and online. This article was originally published on Matt’s blog at ThinkE.org.