DCFI Leadership Training
Online School of Leadership
Lesson 1
You are called to lead...
Many people will read this first line and say to themselves, "I'm not called to lead". But you are my friend. God created you and designed you to lead. As a matter of fact I believe that your entire life you are either led or you are leading.
It is up to you on how you fulfill what God places within you, but I assure you it is there...
Genesis 1:26-31:
Then God said , "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
Simply being created in Gods image means you were born to lead. Knowing that you are made in Gods image means the more you learn to lead the more you are becoming like God. Remember our goal in life should be to fashion ourselves after Him, becoming more and more like Him and less and less like us.
Lead based on who you are...
You have 2 positions: The first is under Gods authority, and the second is to lead with God who gave you dominion over the world.
God will never command you to do something He doesn't give you power to do.
So lets stop right here for a minute and take a look deep inside of ourselves... We will not be able to lead others whether it is at the job, school, at home or anywhere else until we learn to lead ourselves.
It is often much harder to do this one thing than it is to lead hundreds of people.
I want to take this time in the lesson to talk about self discipline...
II Timothy 1:7
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self control. You might say how does this all fit together? Very easily.
Last year I adopted a little boy age 10 at the time and now 11. He is a very bright child and sometimes brighter than he thinks and at other times not as smart as he thinks he is. My hope for him is that someday he will be a great leader. I would love to see him walk in my footsteps and become a pastor or evangelist or any type of ministry. However there is no way I could have him preach next week...He isn't ready. He hasn't learned enough, or experienced enough. He would first be very afraid, but most importantly is that he is not responsible enough yet.
Although I have seen many adults that he could probably win one above when it comes to responsibility, setting him up to do something that he is not ready for is disaster, not only for him but for those who would follow.
One of the first things we went through with Drey was setting up a schedule, for bath, homework, playtime, etc. I knew that because he has special needs, a schedule and discipline is required in order for him to get to the next level.
It is no different for you and I. God wants us to have self discipline and self control before He will allow us to lead. Right now you may be leading, but my question is are you leading up or leading or just leading.
One writer says "If your leading and nobody is following you, your just going for a walk." We want people to follow us! We are supposed to be fishers of men (and women).
So lets go one step deeper... Are there areas of your life that you are not disciplined in? I'll share my biggest problem in this area... Now let me make my excuse before I give you my faults.... I work two jobs, I am a full time Realtor and a full time pastor. I'm also a husband, a dad, a brother, son and uncle all of which hold many responsibilities all of which I take seriously.
I work 7 days a week and an average of 12-14 hours per day. (I don't recommend this by the way). I am now in my 40's and have faced a few health issues. I tend to work until I can't focus and go to bed, I get up, get a shower, check my email and I'm off and running 6 of those days a week. And the song goes on and on. So one thing that gets looked over by me are the simple things such as making the bed, putting the dirty clothes in the hamper. I tend to eat in the bedroom so I can catch the news. Ok, see those areas of lack of self control in my life?
I continually preach and teach on the importance of excellence and integrity. Something I believe is lacking in today's world. However I constantly find areas in my life where those two things are not in play....
What should I do? I should discipline myself to get up 30 minutes earlier take my shower and after doing my devotions and emails take time to make the bed and clean the room. I should set a schedule with myself as I have my son.
These may seem like small things but they are big things to me because I desire to be someone who is self disciplined and self controlled. Yes, I still have trouble sometimes passing the candy at the grocery store and if allowed I could live on Macaroni and cheese and hot-dogs. Again those are areas that no one else can control for me, I have to decide to make those changes (which I am doing).
The next lesson will be based upon your responses to this. We will work through scriptures and principles that are designed to help you and I become better.