What does it mean to be emotionally healthy, especially as a leader?
Pastor Pete Scazzero wrote a book called The Emotionally Healthy Leader. In it, he says you can tell a person’s emotional and spiritual health by how they think about success.
Even in the church, we tend to define success as bigger, better, faster; Pete calls that “very narrow.”
The Bible’s definition of success for example is much larger that. Success is doing God’s will for you, in your context. Success is being faithful.
We think limitations are negative. God says our success is not in overcoming them but in becoming more like Him.
What is success by God’s standards, then?
Success is becoming the person God called you to become and doing what God called you to do.
“Bigger is not always better! Jesus was offered all the kingdoms of this world, immediately, immediate numbers and success. But that was not the Father’s will for him.”
Instead, Jesus took twelve men, most uneducated, and walked with them for three years. From a worldly perspective their mission was an utter failure. From a heavenly perspective they were perfectly positioned for the most incredible movement the world would ever know. The question is always one of faithfulness.
“Whether you’re in Saudi Arabia as a missionary, or a student, or pastor in a church or you’re a lawyer, or God’s given you a special-needs child, or you’re caring for aged parents… how you define success in the midst of your life is going to be different than someone else.”
Pete and his wife Geri founded Emotionally Healthy Spirituality with the goal of equipping more Christians to walk in emotional and spiritual maturity. He travels and speaks around the world encouraging ministry leaders to walk more deeply with Christ and spend more time in introspection. When we’re more aware of how we’re wired, we’re more able to connect with God and others at a deeper, more fruitful level.
Key Scriptures: John 16:33
Featured Songs: Press On by Building 429; Take Another Step by Steven Curtis Chapman; Here I Am by Jeremy Camp
