February 2022 | Grow
Our mission as CDA Miami Leaders is to lead PEOPLE in a GROWING relationship with Jesus. Our goal is to see people GROW enough that they are able to live their lives with the absolute certainty that God exists, that He unconditionally loves them, and that He will walk by their side every day of their lives. Now imagine for a moment that YOU believed with absolute certainty that God exists, that he’s a personal God who unconditionally loves you and knows you by name. And, that no matter what happens in your life, he will always be by your side. How would your life change? How would you manage and prioritize your time and resources? What would you fear or worry about, if you believed with absolute certainty that God is who he says he is, that he loves you personally and that he will always be with you?
The challenge for us leaders is that we are leading others to a destination we ourselves have not yet fully arrived at. Therefore, the more we GROW in our personal relationship with Jesus, the more we will be able to lead others in their relationship with him. As leaders, we have many responsibilities, but none should be more important than GROWING in our relationship with Jesus. Actually, it would be completely disingenuous and practically impossible to lead others somewhere we’re not heading ourselves. The problem for us who lead is not that we haven’t arrived yet, the problem is that oftentimes we neglect doing the things that allow us to GROW in our personal relationship with him. But if by the grace of God, we were able to lead others yet neglect our own GROWTH, what good would that be for us personally? As Jesus said, what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?
The more we GROW in our relationship with Jesus, the more we will be able to effectively lead others in a GROWING relationship with him. As a matter of fact the more we allow God to work in us the more He will be able to do through us.
Two things that God uses to help us GROW in our relationship with him:
1. THE BIBLE.
Daily reading, listening to, or studying God’s Word is a must for us as leaders but it’s not enough. If we’re going to continue to GROW, at some point we have to start applying the Bible in every aspect of our daily lives. It’s not enough to know how God wants us to handle our time, resources, school, work, relationships, ethics and morals we must also apply God’s Word in each and every aspect of our lives. When our faith shown through the application of God’s word intersects with his faithfulness that is when we will experience continuous GROWTH.
“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” – James 1:22 NLT
2. PRAYER.
Just as daily interacting with God’s Word is an important ingredient for GROWING in our relationship with God, so is interacting with prayer on a daily basis. As a matter of fact, The Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Thessalonians closes by saying, “Pray without ceasing.” But it’s not enough to just thank God and hand off your list of petitions. As leaders, we must pray that God would receive all glory and that his will be done in our lives. Oftentimes our prayers are an attempt to get God to do what we want when in fact praying should be an instrument that God uses to give us the willpower to do what he wants. As leaders our prayers should not focus so much on what we want, rather they should focus on what God wants. Imagine if instead of asking God to do what you want, you’d pray and prioritize asking God what he wants. Again, it’s when our trust in God intersects with his faithfulness that we are able to experience GROWTH.
Imagine how much more effective we would be in leading others in a GROWING relationship with Jesus, if on a daily basis we were experiencing God, not only through the reading of his word but also through the actual application of it. And if our prayers changed from me-focused to God-focused, I guarantee you that not only would we become more effective leaders but we too will have grown in our relationship with our Heavenly Father.