Lead from the Front

"Now you, if you call yourself a Jew;

if you rely on the law and

 brag about your relationship to God;

if you know his will and approve of what is superior

because you are instructed by the law;

if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind,

a light for those who are in the dark,

an instructor of the foolish,

a teacher of infants,

because you have in the law 

the embodiment of knowledge and truth--

you, then, who teach others,

do you not teach yourself?

You who preach against stealing, do you steal?

You who say that people should not commit adultery,

do you commit adultery?

You who abhor idols,

do you rob temples?

You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?

. . .A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly,

nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.

No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly;

and circumcision is circumcision of the heart,

by the Spirit,

not by the written code.

Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God."

Romans 2:17-23, 28-29

When my husband served in the U.S. Army, he was elected to the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club.  Members of this exclusive group, "exemplify leadership characterized by personal concern for the needs, training, development, and welfare of Soldiers and concern for families of Soldiers (FORSCOM Reg. 600-8, paragraph 1)."

The club was first formed in 1986 to recognize enlisted leaders who best represent the characteristics of it's namesake who is known as the most decorated U.S. combat Soldier serving in World War II.   Sergeant Murphy gave himself fully to each battle and was known for going above and beyond the call of duty, looking to the welfare of others before his own.  He never asked his soldiers to do anything he wasn't willing to do himself, inspiring organizers to give the club the motto of, "You lead from the front."

Just as Audie Murphy set a good example for soldiers by expecting more from himself than from those he led, I need to first and foremost apply God's Word to myself in order to set a good example for those who are watching.  I can't expect those who are following me to change if I'm not willing to change.

Humility

When Jesus became human, injecting Himself into the world He created, He was the picture of humility.  Philippians 2:6-8 describes the extent of His meekness when He stripped Himself of all the privileges, dignities and rights that lawfully belong to Him as God, and lowered Himself to the position of a lowly servant.  Even more astounding is that even though all power and authority to save Himself was at His disposal, He obeyed His Father on every point, even unto death on a cross!

While Jesus rightfully deserves glory and honor and praise, I do not.  As a follower of the King of kings, I must keep in mind my true identity if I am going to effectively lead from the front.  Firstly, I can never forget that I am a sinner. (Ecclesiastes 7:20)  My only hope is in Jesus who saved me from the certain death my sins deserve.  I am a sinner saved by grace. (Romans 3:23-24)

Secondly, I am incapable of doing good. (Psalm 14:3, Romans 7:18)  I like to think of myself as basically good, like a strong rope with a few kinks to work out.  It makes me feel good to believe that I'm not too bad and can accomplish much good if I try hard enough.  The truth is, though, that apart from Jesus, I have no hope of doing anything that counts in God's kingdom.  (John 15:5-8) I can't impress God with my efforts or my own idea of doing good.  God is the source of all good things.  (James 13:16-17)

Thirdly, as a sinner, I am capable of committing any kind of sin.  For instance, it's easy for me to look down on a woman who kills her own children, thinking I could never do that.  Because of my sin nature, however, I need only find myself in the right circumstances that would send me over the edge where I would stoop to that same level.  I cannot deny my sin nature. (Galatians 5:17)

My only hope of humbling myself as Jesus did is to remember my true identity.  Keeping this godly perspective helps me to guard against the love-eating beast of self-righteousness which regularly rears it's ugly head.

Humility is necessary if I'm going to lead from the front and is only possible when I remember my true identity.

Motivation

Backbiting.  Gossip.  Slander.   Selfish Ambition.  Anger.  Greed.   Envy.    This reads like a promo for the latest soap opera or prime-time television show but it also, unfortunately, describes activities and attitudes that can be found in many local churches.  

Pastor Gerald Cornelius reminds me of the true calling of the body of Christ.  He says, "The job of firefighters is to put out fires, not start them.  The job of Christians is to help resolve conflict (Matthew 5:9), not start more of it."  We are called to be peacemakers. (Romans 12:18)

Because I sometimes seem to create more conflict than I resolve, I must be careful of my motivation when righting a wrong.  If it is my intention to direct others to the Truth, my message will be more well-received than if I simply want to point out where my brother or sister is wrong.  If ever I feel the need to help someone along, I had better first check my heart attitude.

If my purpose for reaching out to someone who is caught in sin is to restore their relationship with Christ, the love I hold for their well-being will be noticed.  When I'm only concerned with showing disapproval of their choices, then my efforts will probably end in conflict.

Leading from the front makes it sometimes necessary to confront sin while always striving to keep my motivation pure.

Focus

Springtime is when many students who are expecting to graduate soon experience something I call, "Senioritis."  This is when many focus more on the future and get distracted from their studies, thinking they are already going to graduate, so why worry?  It also becomes more difficult for graduating seniors to concentrate on school work when freedom is looming so close at hand.

As a follower of Christ, there are many things on which I can concentrate.  Sometimes I get caught up in focusing mostly on the law of God found in His Word.  Other times I turn toward all the unspoken rules I learn from hanging around other Christians and strive to not offend.

If I am going to lead by example, though, it is Christ who must always be in the center of my radar.  Jesus is my only hope; by keeping my eyes on Him, I am able to run the race that is designed for me. (Hebrews 12:21-2)  Otherwise, I get distracted by what everyone else is doing.

Keeping in mind that it is only by grace that I can please God also helps to keep me on-track.  I was made to do the things that He created for me to do and I can only accomplish because I've been saved by the blood of Jesus. In my own sinful state, it is impossible for me to give pleasure to a holy God. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Many times I also lose focus and start to think I can change myself.  It is then that I need to re-calibrate my way of thinking and give God the free-reign in my life and allow Him to mold me into the image of His Son. (Romans 12:2, Romans 8:29)

In order to lead from the front, my focus must stay on Christ where it can propel me toward Him.

No one would argue the point that the church is many times more of a club for saints than a hospital for sinners.   If I want to see a change to occur, though, I must start with myself.  In my heart there must be true humility, a pure motivation and a strong Christ-centered focus.  Then I will be leading from the front.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can think of myself as a leader.

How do I easily lose focus and to what do I tend to shift my attention?

When am I motivated more by insecurity than by a desire to restore someone to Christ?  

Driving Force

"May the words of my mouth

and the meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight,

O LORD,

my Rock and my Redeemer."

Psalm 19:14

I watched as the bird flitted around in the bushes, singing a song of praise to the One Who made him.  He jumped into the bird bath, relishing the cold water as he splashed and ruffled his downy attire.  Feathers fluttered and wings waved as the created glorified the Creator by behaving as he was meant to live.   

It's so easy for me to get caught up in living my life for me, in a way that pleases myself and depending on my own abilities and strength.  After all, that is how the world around me exists.  But I am not of the world.  I live here, but this is not my home!  As a follower of Christ, I belong to Him and His family.  Like the bird who was created to bring glory to the Creator in the way he lives His life, so I am made to live for Him.  

The driving force of my life could be to succeed by the world's standard, cultivating a successful and meaningful career, marrying and having 2.5 children, a couple of cars in the garage and a mortgage to boot.  Or, the thing that compels me and inspires me to continue on could be to live as God intended me to live when He first created me.

My Motivation

Businesses hire motivational speakers to inspire and drive workers toward a goal of pulling together to improve their performance and enhance the bottom line.  They often use stories of those who have survived unspeakable tragedies and came away with a renewed sense of purpose. 


Most of these kind of motivations for living a meaningful and fruitful life can be quite powerful, but temporary at best.  The drive to be the best I can be fades as the pivotal experience disappears from the reflection found in my rear view mirror.  The influence of the past on my future is limited.


Even my work for the Lord can start to shift toward a worldly campaign.  I can start assessing my success or failure based on statistics or production.  In this way I lose focus with that is important: pleasing God.  


As Oswald Chambers wrote in My Utmost for His Highest, "Never court anything other than the approval of God. . . We have a commercial view--so many souls saved and sanctified, thank God, now it is all right. . . Salvation and sanctification are the work of God's sovereign grace; our work as His disciples is to disciple lives until they are wholly yielded to God.  One life wholly devoted to God is of more value to God than one hundred lives simply awakened by His Spirit."  


If my goal is to triumph in the eyes of the world, I will be driven by the need to achieve.  But if my aim is to please God, I will perceive things from a godly point-of-view, focusing on the things that are important to God.   


David understood this principle; the motivation for most of his life was to win God's heart.  This showed most poignantly after he realized and repented of his sin with Bathsheba.  He knew the evil things that he had done were committed against God himself.  Then he prayed, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."  (Psalm 51:10)


For all those months he had been living to please himself, and his actions, his words, his heart were all an abomination to God.  As he came back to a right relationship with his Father, he knew that his highest desire must return to what it was before: to please God and God alone.


If the driving force of my life is to bring delight to my Lord, then the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart will be pleasing to Him. 

My Help

I remember this huge boulder in my neighbors yard when I was growing up.  It was said to have come from Mt. Rainier, a dormant volcano which loomed in my childhood skyline.  The nice couple that lived next door allowed me and my friends to play on the giant rock.  We would dig little caves underneath for our dolls, or make homes for ourselves between the trees and the hardness of the stone.  Sometimes we'd climb up on top and imagine ourselves to be explorers of a new region, setting our eyes on the fertile landscape for the first time.  We loved that rock. 

It's kind of like God in my life.  He is the fortress where I can take shelter from the harshness of the world.  When the going gets tough, I can find refuge in Him, like a safe haven that goes with me wherever I go.  During the times when flaming arrows of life are hurling toward me, He stands between me and the danger, keeping me from harm.  He is the strength that saves me.  (Psalm 18:2) 

I am often tempted to find help in other places.  I run to my friends or family, asking them for advice and guidance.  I expect my husband to always protect me.  I am hurt when friends don't provide the safe place I am looking for, instead pointing a finger and tell me where I'm wrong.  I try to find comfort and shelter in the pursuit of my hobbies, the affection of my pets or the satisfaction of a job well done.  Eventually, they all fall short.  I still need help.  

As the psalmist reminds me in Psalm 46:1, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble."  Instead of going to other sources for my support, I need look no further than God.  He is always ready to help, whenever I am ready to receive.

If I look to other things for my source of help, then I will leave myself vulnerable.  If, instead, I trust in God as my ever-present source of help, then I will stand strong as a mighty oak.  

My Inspiration

Job was given a raw deal.  He lived his life in a way that please God, but the Lord allowed Satan to test him, giving him one heartbreak after another.  In one day he lost all of his children and all of his possessions in a series of unprovoked attacks and tragedies. As if this weren't enough, he was then inflicted with a horrible skin disease that covered his entire body.  Job suffered greatly.

Despite all this pain and anguish, Job did not blame God.  He lamented, he mourned, he questioned the purpose of his existence, but he didn't point the finger at His Creator.  How was he able to carry on?  The answer lies in Job 19:25-27 when he proclaimed, "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.  And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes--I, and not another.  How my heart yearns within me!"  

The hope that inspired Job to drive on, day after day as he sat in pain and suffering, was that the One who had bought him from certain death was alive and he would one day see Him face to face.  This can be our hope as well. 

Jesus made a way for me to live forever with Him when he took the punishment meant for me and my sin.  In this way, God bought me back from slavery to sin and the indebtedness I carried against Him.  I have been redeemed.  And because of this, I have hope for my future.

If the hope I have for life eternal through faith in Jesus is my inspiration, then I can endure any calamity or circumstance God brings my way.

God intends me to live in a way that glorifies Him.  But I can't do that when I am distracted by all the desires, temptations and difficulties that come my way.  If, instead, I focus on pleasing God as my motivation, trusting in Him as my help, and remembering the hope I have to give me inspiration, then I will please God as the birds do. 

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can strive to please God and make that my driving force.

How do I find my motivation in other areas besides in pleasing God?

When do I take shelter in the arms of others instead of in my Rock? 

Going the Distance

"And whatever you do, 

whether in word or deed, 

do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, 

giving thanks to God the Father through him."

Colossians 3:17

"Our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

 Who, being in very nature God, 

   did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 

 but made himself nothing, 

   taking the very nature of a servant. . ."

Philippians 2:5-7a

I have heard it said that, "No good deed goes unpunished."  While it may sometimes seem this way, this sentiment is more of a cry of frustration when I do things for the wrong reasons than an adage by which to live.

As a follower of Christ, I can choose to do things out of "Christian duty," or obligation or to fulfill an expectation others have for me.  It's almost as if I'm carrying out the work in accordance with a job description for Christians that could go something like this.  "Love others at all times, serve tirelessly, think of others more highly than self, preach the gospel at every opportunity and do it all with a gracious and gentle spirit."

That is a tall order!  While all of those criteria came straight from scripture, I cannot expect to fulfill them in my own strength or out of sheer will.  Jesus reminds me in John 15:5 that I can't do it on my own.  He said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

Trying to do things out of my own strength with lead to discouragement, frustration and disappointment.  But there is a better way.

Motivation

Steven Curtis Chapman sings a song which speaks to my desire to do things that matter.  The monotonous, everyday things seem meaningless and doing them day in and day out can lead to feelings of frustration, discontentment and bitterness.  I think, What's the point.  No one cares, no one ever thanks me and I don't think I'm making much of a difference.  

Take a moment to listen to, "Do Everything."

Why do I do the things I do?  If I do them to please others, I will grow increasingly discouraged and may become irritable around those I am serving.  

If, instead, I do it out of a love for God, seeking to please Him in all that I do, there will be peace and contentment in my heart.  I want to be able to say, as the Apostle Paul did in Galatians 1:10, "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."

If my motivation for doing all the things that must be done in life is to please God, I will not grow discouraged.

Expectations

As a wife and mother, I have a lot of expectations.  Some of them are reasonable, some are excessive.  All, however, are completely mine.

During my husband's Army career, our family moved to Germany.  As part of the preparation for this transfer, we received a packet of information about the country in which we'd be living.  Knowing what to expect was very helpful and made for an easier transition.

Expectations influence my attitude.  Paul explained in Philippians 2:5-7 (see above) how I can improve my attitude and keep from becoming frustrated when my expectations regarding how I should be treated are not met.  Knowing what to expect from others is beneficial.

Jesus is God the Son, creator of heaven and earth and worthy of all praise.  In the end, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.  (Philippians 2:9-11)  If He came to earth as a human and expected to be treated as a lowly servant, to be spat upon and treated like dirt, how can I as a sinful human who is the enemy of God without the blood of Jesus expect better treatment?  

If my expectation is for others to treat me as Jesus was treated instead of demanding respect and regard, then I will not be disappointed

Attitude

William Bennett, conservative politician and writer said, "There are no menial jobs, only menial attitudes."  The way I see myself and my lot in life influences my outlook.  Knowing that God has located me in the position I now hold, placed specific people around me according to His plan and gave me the responsibilities that sometimes feel overwhelming can change my attitude.  

Everything happens for a reason and there is no such thing as a fluke.  If I believe this, my attitude will be one of thankful acceptance.

There is a lot of work to be done, as Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." (Luke 10:2)  But how long I last out in the field depends upon my motivation for doing the work, and my expectation in how I will be treated.   Both result in an attitude that can either make me or break me.  

As I begin this day, it is my prayer that I can do everything to please God, not to make myself look good or to meet others expectations for me.

How does my attitude quickly take a nose dive as I am met with unforeseen difficulties?  

How does my expectation that others will treat me with respect show a desire to glorify myself instead of God?