The Habits of The Servant Leader

Lead Like Jesus Session Six

Debbie Ormonde, D.D.

Five Key Habits

• Solitude • Prayer • Study and application of Scripture • Accepting and responding to God’s unconditional love

• Involvement in supportive relationships

Applying Scriptures

Applying Scriptures Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:2

Applying Scriptures For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

James 1:22

“Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.” Mark Twain

How can you make the WORD of God more effective in your life as a leader?

There are five practical ways you can cultivate the habit of studying Scripture:

1. Hearing 2. Reading 3. Studying 4. Memorizing 5. Meditation

Hear the Word The simplest way to receive the word is to hear it .

If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.” Mark 4:23

“Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ”

Romans 10:17

The Parable of the Sower Matthew 13:3-23

There are FOUR kinds of hearers of the Word:

Apathetic hearer - they hear the Word but are not prepared to receive it and understand it. (vs.19)

There are FOUR kinds of hearers of the Word:

Superficial hearer - receives the Word temporarily but does not let it take roots in the heart (vs.20-21)

There are FOUR kinds of hearers of the Word:

Preoccupied hearer - receives the Word but lets the worries of the world and the desire (vs. 22)

There are FOUR kinds of hearers of the Word:

Reproducing hearer – receives the Word, understands it, bears fruit, and brings forth results. (vs.23)

These questions are good for you to record in your personal journal:

• What did God say to me through this message?

• How does my life measure up to his Word?

• What actions will I take to line up my life with this Word?

• What truth do I need to study further?

• What truth can I share with another person?

READ the WORD The second way you learn God’s Word is to read it. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. Revelation 1:3

How to READ the WORD

Allow enough time to read the Word:

“Meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Joshua 1:8

How to READ the WORD Do not read too much Scripture at one time.

If you read too much at one time, you can’t meditate on the Word. Start with something manageable like Psalm 103: “Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” (vs.1-2)

How to READ the WORD Balance your reading of the Word:

Jesus said, “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. Luke 24:44-45

How to READ the WORD Apply the Word to your life each day:

Ask God to show you what His word means. Jesus promised, “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. John 15:10

Every time you the Word of God to your life, you grow closer to Him. Every time you fail to apply it, you leave the Word, like scattered seed, beside the road where Satan can steal it.

STUDY the WORD When you study the word you grow deeper into its meaning and application.

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Acts 17:11

MEMORIZE the WORD A deeper way to get the Word into your heart is to memorize it. When you remember the Word, it really lives in you, you live in it, and God’s promises become your possessions.

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your Word… I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:9, 11)

There are several reasons to memorize Scripture.

• Jesus used Scripture as the sword of the Spirit against Satan even when Satan tried to misuse the Scripture as part of the temptation.

• Memorizing Scriptures helps you gain the victory over sin.

• It also helps you answer when people have questions about your faith.

One of the greatest benefits of memorizing scripture comes from obedience to doing what God commands. “These commands that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.”

Deuteronomy 6:6

How to Memorize Scripture

1. Choose a scripture that speaks to your need or that the Lord points out to you

2. Understand the verse. (Read it in context and in different translations)

3. Commit the verse to memory 4. Develop some memory aids to help

you remember the verse.

How to Memorize Scripture

5. Locate and underline the verse in your Bible so you can visualize it on the page.

6. Write the verse on a notecard 7. Place the written verse in places so you can

review them while doing other task. Put them in the kitchen, or on the bathroom mirror, on your desk, on the dashboard of your car, review them at stoplights, any place you will see them often…

8. Mediate on the verse, savoring every word. Say it over and over again.

How to Memorize Scripture

9. Use the activities to set a verse in your mind, a picture, sing it by making up your own tune. Pray it back to God; practice it by making it a part of your life, and use it as often as possible.

10. REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW at least once a day for six weeks and then monthly for the rest of your life

11. Have someone check your ability to quote the verse or write it by memory and check it yourself.

12. Make it FUN! Make a game out of it

MEDITATE on the WORD Here are some practical ways to mediate on God’s Word 1. Read the verses before and after to establish the theme

and setting. This will aid you in interpretation. 2. Write the verse in your own words. Say your paraphrase

aloud. 3. Read the verse over and over again, emphasizing a

different word each time you repeat it. 4. State the opposite meaning of the verse 5. Write at least two important words from those you have

emphasized in the verse. 6. Personalize the verse 7. Pray the verse back to God. Put your own name or

situation in the verse 8. Refer to other verses that emphasize the truth of the verse

that you are mediating on. 9. Write a way you can use the verse to help another person.

The Habit of Trusting in God’s Unconditional Love

Jesus has set the standard for unconditional love.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

John 13:1

What Does This Mean for the Servant Leader?

1. Accepting that you are unconditionally loved. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

2. Abiding in God’s unconditional love I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you know in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them. John 17:23,26

3. Unconditionally loving people around you A new command I give you : Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34

Love those at home

Love those at work

Love those at church

And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love; and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself.

Ephesians 3:17-19 TLB

To Lead like Jesus you have to: Love like Jesus “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

Luke 6:27-28

MAINTANING SUPPORTIVE RELATIONS

Have you ever said; Lord I can’t love this person?

Leadership can be a lonely business fill with great amounts of soul0draining human interaction but little soul- filling intimacy.

This can create two debilitating frames of mind and spirit.

• The Victim

• The Martyr

If we allowed these two blossom into

• Resentment

• Self-Justification

These twin demons have been the downfall of many leaders in every walk of life.

TRUTH TELLERS

We all need truth tellers in our lives, preferably these are people that are not

directly impacted by what we do.

Having truth tellers is probably the greatest resource for growth that

you can have.

Feedback is a gift

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10,12

Ways to grow:

1. Being open to feed back from other people

2. Be willing to disclose vulnerabilities

We’re all vulnerable. We all fall short. Disclosing your vulnerabilities doesn’t mean expressing all your inner thoughts. You want to share task-relevant information, struggles you are working on as a leader. Jesus confided in the twelve and he had an inner core of three; Peter, James and John. If you are to maintain and grow in your daily walk as a Jesus-like leader, you need similar relationships.

Accountability Group Purpose: To provide mutual support and accountability for continual growth and maturity in leadership as disciples of Jesus. Group Size: Two to seven people, preferably all of the same sex. Commitment: Six months of regular participation. The group will assess its effectiveness after six months and determine whether it should continue to meet. Meeting schedule: Weekly Meeting Time Frame: 60-90 minutes

Accountability Group Ground Rules 1. All discussions are strictly confidential and are not to be shared Agenda: Opening prayer – 5 minutes Devotional prepare on a rotating basis by group members – 20 minutes Accountability questions processed – 45 minutes

Practicing the habits gives you PEACE.

Jesus the Prince of Peace, exhibited it throughout His ministry. Jesus demonstrated peace the most when everything around Him seemed to be in conflict.

What Decision Will You Make?

Each of us a decision to make: will we choose to lead like everyone else, or will we choose to live like Jesus by practicing these five habits? Have you made the decision to lead like Jesus? If so, are you prepared? Then will you choose to prepare by putting into practice the five habits of a servant leadership the He modeled?

Jesus stayed on track with His mission by applying five key habits that countered the negative forces in His life:

1. Solitude 2. Prayer 3. Study and application of scripture 4. Accepting and responding to God’s

unconditional love 5. Involvement in supportive relationships