How the Mighty Fall

In a sentence: the mighty fall because the start focusing only on the ministry and stop focusing on taking care of themselves. =

Nurturing your vitality— that is, your health— pays great dividends. And, it’s the only way to continue for the long-haul. 

If you’re not healthy, then you’re unable to fulfill the call of God that’s on your life. So, you should pay attention to yourself BEFORE you attend to ministry.

Here are four gauges you should regularly evaluate.

#1 = EMOTIONAL gauge = Am I emotionally healthy? 

75% of moral failures happen because of emotional issues (Forbes.com). And, though most people don’t plan for a moral failure (and others even set guard rails making them virtually impossible) there are other issues related to emotional health. 

The book Emotional Intelligence 2.0 reports that…

• People with the highest IQs outperform people with lower IQs only 20% of the time- yet people with higher EQs (emotional quotients) out-perform higher IQs over 70% of the time. (That is, THE THING we think makes people the greatest-performers, IQ, isn’t the best predictor of success… emotional health is.)
• EQ accounts for a pay increase of $28K per year- across all fields. (In other words, emotional health brings a tangible result with it.)

Furthermore (and this is GREAT news), whereas IQ is a relatively static number (it doesn’t increase or decrease very much over the course of your lifetime, as IQ is a measure of your ABILITY to learn and access info, not necessarily a measure of how much or what you know), EQ can be learned. You can GROW in your emotional quotient.

Emotional health affects how we interact with our team, how we handle criticism, and how confident we are in our calling. 

Questions you can consider in this area— 

• Am I self-aware?
• Am I proactively locating blind spots in my leadership (with the help of others) and rooting them out? 
• Am I coachable and teachable? 
• Or am I insecure and defensive?
• Do I laugh regularly?
• Do I have any hobbies or things I do for fun?

#2 = Spiritual gauge = Am I spiritually healthy? 

The Pharisees in Jesus’ day knew Scripture intimately. But, on more than one occasion that missed the fact that the very text they studied actually described— the prophesied— the Jesus standing before them.

“You search those words because you think that in them you have life,” Jesus observed, “but those all point to Me…”

Then— “But you refuse to come to Me so that you can experience that life.”

Should we study? 

Yes, we’re told to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, MIND, and strength (See Matthew 22:37). This, includes our body (strength / fitness), as well as our intellectual capacity… and our emotions….

In other words, this outlines total wholeness— a wholistic encounter with the Creator. 

And, in the end, God is better encountered than merely (only) explained…

Be sure you are encountering Him regularly— not just explaining Him. 

Questions you can consider in this area— 

• Do I spend consistent time cultivating a personal relationship with God?
• What is my spiritual growth plan?
• Do I exhibit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self control? 
• Is my faith truly a way of life for me AND a relationship, as well?

#3 = Relational gauge = Are my key relationships healthy? 

It takes (at least) 6 strong men to carry you to the grave when you’re dead…

Imagine what would happen if you had them carrying you to your dreams while you’re still alive? 

Or what if you turned NOW and carried them to theirs? 

Or we just all did it for each other…? 

Too often we wait until things are broken in order to fix them (you know the adage, “if it ain’t broken…”

But why? 

Why don’t we just continually make them better…? 

We’re busy. But in the busy-ness we often squish out the things that matter… 

I tell you this…=

If your friend died TODAY, you’d drop what you were doing three days from now to carry the casket.

(Regardless of how busy you think you are now, despite why you can’t make time to connect, reconnect, and just hit a pause button on all of the other productive things you’ve got going on…)

You wouldn’t worry about what was on the schedule, you’d show up… 

Someday they’re gone. 

Why not just show up TODAY as well as three days from now anyway…?

Why not just be a pallbearer NOW and carry them to their dreams while they’re still alive…?

Questions you can consider in this area— 

• Do I have a definitive end time to the work day?
• Do I have consistent time set aside with my family?
• Do I have a consistent date night (or day)?
• Is my marriage growing in intimacy? 
• Do I have two friends— or more— I could call at 2:00am?
• Do I resolve conflict in a healthy way, or do I pursue artificial harmony?
• Do I have a mentor and coach who has been where I am and is now ahead of me?

#4 = Physical gauge = Am I physically healthy? 

Paul told Timothy that “bodily exercise has some value… but Godliness if valuable now AND in the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8). 

This doesn’t mean physical health isn’t valuable. It is.

Too many pastors retire because of their health. Even if they’re not sick, they lack the stamina to lead as they age.

If you’re sick on the couch, it’s difficult to fulfill the calling on your life, because everything you do in this life is contained in your body. 

Take care of it. It’s one thing you cannot replace. 

Questions you can consider in this area— 

• Do I get enough sleep— 6-7 hours or more each night?
• Am I taking my day off consistently?
• Do I get enough rest when I’m awake?
• Am I maintaining the proper weight for my frame?

It’s all connected 

Discipline flows from one area to another. So, as you begin monitoring yourself physically, this automatically creates more disciple spiritually… and emotionally…

Start moving forward, and expect great results.