1Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnessessurrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecterof our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you won’t grow weary and give up. 4In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood…11No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12:1-4, 11
17I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, 18may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, 19and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:17-19
Irony…
Children who experience as perfect Love as possible will not be fearful to test boundaries.
Children who experience fear instead of Love are fearful to test boundaries.
When children are fearful to test boundaries, this makes for easier parenting. You don’t have to continuously keep your kids from going over the boundaries.
However, when your children continually push up against the boundaries…and even go over…causing you to remind them to come back, this requires constant oversight and patience.
And this also produces children who think anything is possible.
God does the same with us.
He teaches us to turn our eyes off the created order and fix our eyes on Jesus, who starts and completes our faith.
To fix our eyes on Jesus is to crucify our mind, soul, heart and strength with Jesus.
In Ephesians 3, Paul prays for the church to drive out to the boundaries of God’s love. We can never find the edges of how much God loves us, but he prays for them to have the strength to push out to the boundaries and see if they can try to find the boundary.
What this is not saying is we are to intentionally sin in order to figure out how much God loves us. At the same time, God knows this style of Parenting requires discipline. As he lets us learn what it means to have total Freedom in Christ, he knows he’ll have to discipline us to come back to him.
We just have to realize the discipline is so we can find the fruit of righteousness in our lives.
As leaders, we can lead with scarcity and fear.
Or we can lead with abundance and Love.
Love will serve others.
Love will give people the security to test the boundaries of what’s possible.
Love will bring people back so they can find the fruit of righteousness.
When your Pillar of Love is on the Foundation of Christ, he will give you a mission and vision. I desire you find success because of your relationship with Christ. Perhaps you’ll have an abundance of profits because of your Hearing & Following Jesus.
But what you will also find is a people you lead who Love. Love to go out and make the world a better place because you lead them with an abundance mindset. And because of your abundance mindset to drive out all fear of failure those you lead can know anything is possible.
The goal is to lead you to engage with God’s Word so you can Hear & Follow Jesus in the everyday…especially in your leadership. Sign up for daily emails HERE so you can have the content delivered directly to you. You’ll receive a 1-minute email read with a link to a 5-minute blog read each day.