4Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, 5is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. 6Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
The more we trust God with all of who we are, the more we will have an abundance mindset.
The more we have an abundance mindset, the more we will Love others well.
We could have the best vision in the world…
We could have the best mission in the world…
We could have all the profits we want…
We could have all the social good we want…
If we don’t have love…all of it is just white noise.
As humans, we can tap into some incredible things. We can have a mission that will span the globe and do amazing good with people who need. This mission can fill us with all kinds of good will.
To not love God first, before any other love is to lose out on the Source of all Love.
And to love the created order first, before love for God is to miss out on the Life in our soul that is greater and stronger than any other life we could have.
Sacrificing for others alone is not a strong enough Pillar to withstand the difficulties of life. We must Love from the Love God first loved us with.
The more we truly trust God with all our mind, soul, heart and strength, the more we will find the abundance to give to others.
This is why Paul writes the “greatest of these” is love. I’ve said Hope and Faith are the load bearing Pillars of our life. But he said Love is greater than these two.
Paul says it a bit different in Galatians 5…
6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love.
Galatians 5:6
Paul’s point is the Object of the Foundation of our Pillars of Hope and Faith are evident through the Love we show in our life. The type of Love we show is the most outward facing evidence of how much we truly crucify ourselves with Christ.
How does this Love play out?
13For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. 14For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself. 15But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.
Galatians 5:13-15
Crucifying ourselves with Christ leads to Freedom. Freedom to live without any consequences whatsoever. This is a powerful freedom.
To much is given…much is required. We are to use this Freedom to serve others, not ourselves.
We will find we are no more free than the Freedom that comes by serving others with the Freedom we have.
How do we know we Love well?
16God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 17In this, love is made complete with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears is not complete in love. 19We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4:16-19
The more we crucify our life with Christ, the more we are free.
The more we are free, the more we’re free to serve.
The more we serve with Love, the more fear is driven out of others.
When we fear, we fear if someone will Love us enough to look past our faults and weaknesses. As leaders, this fear often shows itself through strength. If I just remain strong, no one will see my weaknesses and shortcomings. If I just keep a front of superiority, then no one will see me at my worst.
You’re missing out on perfect Love.
And the people you lead are missing out on perfect Love. We cannot drive out the fear of failure if we fear failure too. We cannot drive out fear with a scarcity mindset.
Love is sacrifice. Sacrifice all of who you are…fears included…to find out the perfect Love of Christ drives out all fear. And find out as you find Christ’s perfect Love, you will drive out the fear inside others.
To drive out the fear in others must be the goal of leadership.
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.