Realigning the Leaders Soul with the Heart of God

A friend of mine who is a Christian Counselor came in town recently and we had the chance to spend several hours together.  During that time, like a doctor probing and prodding, he asked me a battery of questions.  Then, before I knew it he hit some tender spots on my soul.  He identified some patterns in my life that were hurting my physical, emotional and spiritual health.  Saddly in the busyness of serving God I had totally missed the weakening condition of my soul.

As spiritual leaders we’ve dedicated our lives to serve God and as a result we spend much of our time thinking about, serving, loving and giving to others.  And if we aren’t careful this inordinate amount of time focused on the spiritual health of others can actually cause us to neglect our own soul.  Repentance must be a regular part of our regimen if we desire to remain spiritually healthy leaders.    This is crucial because repentance removes the contaminating effects of self and realigns the soul of the leadeer with the heart of God.

Typically when the Holy Spirit helps us identify the sin in our lives our response is to change our behavior.   But for repentance to really do it’s work we must look at the belief behind our behavior. Repentance is more than just changing our behavior, it’s about changing our minds.  If we simply change our  behavior without changing our thinking, our thinking will eventually lead us back to the very same behavior.

So what can we do to ensure that repentance is having it’s full work in our lives?

1. Make time for Regular Examination.  David said in Psalm 139 “Search me, try me and see if there be any wicked way in me.”  Need some help with this check out Examen.me by CLICKING HERE
2. Find an accountability partner that loves you and will be brutally honest with you.  Need a resource for accountability? CLICK HERE.
3. Ask yourself the right questions.  When the Holy Spirit identifies a sin in your life and don’t forget to ask: “Why am I doing this?”  “What is the false belief behind my behavior?”  “What is the Truth I need to hold on to?” 
4. Walk forward in the joy of grace.  Write Robert McGee’s quote on a 3×5 and keep in nearby.  In his book Search for Signficance he writes, “Because of Christ’s redemption, I am a new creation of infinite worth. I am deeply loved, I am completely forgiven I am fully pleasing, I am totally accepted by God.  I am absolutely complete in Christ.”