Leading with Diligence

UV 4242/10000 Leading with Diligence Or he who encourages, in the act of encouragement; he who gives, with generousity; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy ( in caring for others), with cheerfulness. Romans 12 v 8 We are expected to exercise our gifts faithfully as good stewards of His gifts. A leader should lead diligently. Leadership is an art that needs to be studied and honed. It implies that a leader should not take his role for granted or complacently or carelessly. He should devote time to understanding, learning, developing his leadership qualities over his whole lifetime. It requires much study of the word of God and other books on leadership and all manner of books related to communication, wisdom, knowledge and so on. It calls for application of the principles and ideas learnt in our role as leaders in our respective professions as well as in the church. We are to serve both the world and the body of believers with the skills we learn as leaders. The quality of diligence requires us to spend time thinking deeply or meditating on what the Lord wants us to do in specific situations, challenges we are confronting. A leader needs good connectivity between his head and heart. It requires equilibrium or effective and holistic balance between the domains of spirit, mind and body. For such equilibrium, on an average, I spend two hours every day in physical activities, sometimes accompanied by prayer, two hours in spiritual activities, two hours in intellectual and social activities. Diligence means that whatever we do, we do it as if for the Lord, with the Lord, through the Lord. We do our utmost, we are determined, devoted, dedicated, disciplined in all that we attempt. Diligence’s ultimate test is whether we are spending enough time in the presence of the Lord. Are we like Martha busy in our pursuits and professional engagements or are we spending time delighting at the feet of the Lord learning how to lead our lives as well as how to lead others? This morning the Lord revealed that 666 has another significance- spending 18 hours a day without acknowledging the Creator and Redeemer. We need to spend quality and quantity time with the Lord. Thought of Him needs to be uppermost in our minds and hearts and His thoughts must be in our minds all the time through the embedded, incarnated word.