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Support your church leaders
Ever found yourself criticising the talk at church? Or expecting more from your pastor? We can be quick to criticise, and slow to support and encourage our church leaders. While Paul was not a pastor of one particular church, he said: ‘I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.’ Leading a church can be a pressurised job. We expect to be spiritually fed, guided, and supported by our church leaders. And some of our churches have a lot of people. Leaders have to deal with many people’s burdens, while trying to live their own lives too. This can be exhausting, stressful, and can lead to people burning out, or even leaving the ministry. Our church leaders are working on the front-line of the kingdom. The enemy will be trying to stop them from spreading God’s Word. They’ll face struggles and temptations just like the rest of us. So what can we do? Firstly, we can pray for our pastors. We can ask God to give them the strength to keep going, inspiration and insight into His Word, and protection from the enemy. We can also avoid criticising them to others. Let’s stop complaining that we didn’t get anything out of the talk at church. Instead let’s remember that God may have been speaking to someone else, that we might not have been open to hearing what God was trying to say to us, and that actually it’s not all about us. Finally, we can openly encourage our pastors. We could tell them when something they’ve said or done has really encouraged us, we can share stories of how God’s working in our lives, or even support them practically by offering our gifts and skills in the church.
What Now?
Find a way to encourage your pastor today. That might be sending an email, offering to volunteer at church, or by praying for them.
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