Those in church leadership have a pretty challenging job. To lead a church, full of different personalities, different thoughts and different ideas, can be tricky. Keeping unity, building up people’s faith, encouraging, caring, discipling and evangelising is a huge job. Our church leaders have to juggle a lot of tasks. And they can make mistakes. They’re human, just like the rest of us. So we need to be praying for them. As a part of the church, it’s our job to pray that our leaders serve in a way that brings glory to God. But appreciating our church leaders is more than praying for them. It’s also treating them, and speaking of them, with love. The Bible says: ‘We ask you to honour those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love!’ (1 Thessalonians 5:12 MSG). When we didn’t get anything from their sermon, or we think they didn’t handle something well, let’s commit to encouraging them rather than speaking negatively to, and about, them. We need to remember that we’re not going to agree with our leaders all the time. But God’s put them in that position and we should respect that. While there are some issues that may be too big to ignore, there will always be smaller issues that we’ll disagree on. And in those times, it’s vital that we keep a good attitude and react with integrity and respect to those who lead us.

What Now?
Send some words of encouragement to your church leader today and remind them that you’re praying for them.