Tuesday all of our lessons were on how to be a good leader. Casper went over Revelation 4:7 "The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle." We went over what these four faces represent. The Lion represents authority/influence, the Man represents service, the Eagle represents idealism, and the Calf represents realism. Today we actually had Cassie Carstens go into more detail about how to be a good leader no matter which "living creature" you are. But last night the main focus was that leadership equals service. Constantly Jesus shows us that to be a good leader we have to lower ourselves. Humility is so important, but it has to be done with the right heart. We talked a lot about the "head of the table" mentality.
"When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.' Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 14:8-11
We have to die to ourselves every day and put away our pride so we can serve others. But the trick is not to put yourself in a lowly position so that someone will recognize how humble you are. You should serve others in the hopes that no one will ever give you recognition or praise for what you're doing. Greatness is not a measure of self-will but self-abandonment.
"Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Won't he rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty." Luke 17:7-10
After we went over all of these things, Fouad talked about what it truly means to be a humble servant. He talked about what Jesus did when He washed His disciples feet in John 13. He is the King of the Universe and He got down on His hands and knees, took off their dirty shoes, and washed their dirt covered feet. To show us what that looks like each of the leaders took turns washing each others feet and then our small group leaders washed all of our feet. I began crying at the start of this when I saw Fouad bend down to wash his wife's feet. It wasn't until Karen was kneeling before me, taking my boots and socks off telling me "Peace be with you, God loves you" that I truly understood what this action means. I immediately became so overwhelmed by the beauty of this act that I started sobbing in my hands. I couldn't watch half the time she was washing my feet. I felt so unworthy of this and of everything that Christ has done for me. This was probably the time when I fully and truly understood what the Gospel and Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection actually means!! It is so powerful and beautiful and wonderful and I have just realized that I am so unworthy of anything, especially God's love! I am so thankful to serve a God that truly cares about me as an individual so much and I can't wait to tell others about the great things He did and is doing in, for, and through me. It's such a blessing and a wonder to me. That night was amazing.
I hope your day is brighter now than before, if anything you've just read has inspired or encouraged you thank the Lord; for it is His Spirit that flows through my body, my heart, and through my fingertips as I wrote this. Bless you.
"Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Won't he rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty." Luke 17:7-10
After we went over all of these things, Fouad talked about what it truly means to be a humble servant. He talked about what Jesus did when He washed His disciples feet in John 13. He is the King of the Universe and He got down on His hands and knees, took off their dirty shoes, and washed their dirt covered feet. To show us what that looks like each of the leaders took turns washing each others feet and then our small group leaders washed all of our feet. I began crying at the start of this when I saw Fouad bend down to wash his wife's feet. It wasn't until Karen was kneeling before me, taking my boots and socks off telling me "Peace be with you, God loves you" that I truly understood what this action means. I immediately became so overwhelmed by the beauty of this act that I started sobbing in my hands. I couldn't watch half the time she was washing my feet. I felt so unworthy of this and of everything that Christ has done for me. This was probably the time when I fully and truly understood what the Gospel and Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection actually means!! It is so powerful and beautiful and wonderful and I have just realized that I am so unworthy of anything, especially God's love! I am so thankful to serve a God that truly cares about me as an individual so much and I can't wait to tell others about the great things He did and is doing in, for, and through me. It's such a blessing and a wonder to me. That night was amazing.
I hope your day is brighter now than before, if anything you've just read has inspired or encouraged you thank the Lord; for it is His Spirit that flows through my body, my heart, and through my fingertips as I wrote this. Bless you.
I love you! Thanks for this <3
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