“Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever.” Hebrews 13:20-21
We are called to submit to the people God has placed over us. This is no easy task, especially if we don’t agree with them. We cannot control our leaders. But we can pray for them! God lifts up and appoints those above us and He desires that we pray for them instead of talk about them. If we trust God, we can trust He is placing those over us that should be over us–even if it doesn’t make sense.
Do we talk about them more than we pray for them? Prayer is so powerful, we can’t control the way people act, but God can change hearts. While we need to submit to those over us, we also need to remember where our completeness and direction truly comes from: Jesus. He is the true Shepherd and it is He who speaks directly to our hearts. Man can never speak to our hearts entirely, only God can do that. Man does not know each individual heart like God does. However because we live in a broken world, we do need some sort of structure. God appoints governments, churches, organizations, and workplaces to put some sort of order in place to help us live in harmony with each other. We know, we are all flawed humans so these organizations will not run perfectly. That is why we are each individually called to look to Jesus to guide our lives while we live under these authority figures. He will guide us to perfection. We will never reach it here on earth, but we can journey towards it.
If we are submitting to God, we will submit to man in the way we are called to. If we are genuinely seeking the great Shepherd of our souls and forfeiting our own desires, we will walk in the way we should walk. We may not agree with the authority over us, but in humbleness after searching out God’s word, we will be able to do whatever God leads. In a world that says “you can do whatever you want, and you deserve things”, submitting is not easy at all. However, when we look at Christ we see He is the ultimate picture of submission. We are called to be Christlike, not “me-like”.
Through this process of growing to be more Christlike, we are going to fail at times. We will let selfishness take over from time to time. We will battle it. We will overcome one thing, for something else to crop up. It is a journey that we must learn to trust our good Shepherd in. He will forgive us, He will heal us, and He will help redeem the moments that go bad. In the meantime, with all our failings, we need to love and encourage others to become more like God. We need to pray for our authority while also praying that we can lead well the people looking to us. Each one of our lives are made for influence. Let’s use that influence to shine Jesus everywhere we go.
As well as praying for leaders, we need to pray that our own hearts would stay on Jesus and never be lead astray by any false teachings.
Not only are we called to submit to God fearing authority, we are also called to submit to secular authority. However, we must discern what we hear from them and not allow wrong thinking to infiltrate our own lives. God’s Word is the ultimate authority. The way we live our life cannot follow those who are seeking wisdom in their own hearts. We still need to submit to them in what they ask us to do, but our hearts need to be committed to following God first and foremost. We need to be on guard of any thinking from secular culture that may be creeping into our Spiritual lives.
This principle also goes for church leaders. We need to analyze if the instruction we hear aligns with God’s word, or if it is taken out of context. We cannot rely on man’s wisdom and understanding alone, we must always seek God’s. God has given us teachers to help us understand His Word, but we must analyze if the teachings line up to the Bible. As I write these studies and share what God is teaching me, I acknowledge I am not always going to say it exactly right. God’s Word is too deep and too beautiful for us humans to ever completely figure out. I pray every time I sit down that I speak truth, and not skew it with my own thinking, however I am still human. As we listen to other broken humans, know this: we will make mistakes teaching God’s word. We don’t want to, but we are human. Allow grace to work in your heart for others who are teaching God’s Word. Encourage them to always pursue God’s ways, but know we most likely will say things amiss on accident at some point. We are all growing in our understanding of God’s word. Don’t let the lack of perfection keep you from sharing what God is teaching you. On the same token, don’t think you or your leaders have it all completely understood either :). Always compare what you hear with God’s Word. Never hang your hat on man’s words alone, but don’t avoid learning from teachers either. Listen and learn from all, but live in accordance to God’s Word.
Take a moment to ponder these questions:
- Do I measure my leaders words against the truth of God’s Word? If so how? If not, how can I do this better? Example: Yes, I do. If any walls go up in my heart or any discomforts arise when I am listening to a leader, I search God out in prayer while also diving deeper into the topic in the Bible on my own. OR No. I I need to be more prayerful for God’s discerning voice in my life instead of relying heavily of man’s interpretation of things.
- Do I allow grace to my leaders or am I over paranoid of them messing up? How can I extend more grace to them or let them know I appreciate them and their efforts?
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