Die to Your Expectations
Four Daily Deaths
Below are four expectations that you must die to daily. On the surface, this might seem discouraging or even faithless. On the contrary, as we die to our expectations, we are more free to operate within the call of God for our lives and fully appreciate the people God has aligned us with. As we die to our expectations, we are more free to live for Jesus.
Die to the Expectations of Your Leadership Experience
From the outside, leadership appears to be a never-ending train ride of excitement. At the beginning, it feels that way, but it’s not all fun and games forever.
Leadership can be extremely difficult and uncomfortable. It will drain you emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. You will be asked to do some things that you don’t like to do.
We must die to our expectations, so we can lead well through the tough times.
Go with a heart of surrender and dependence on Jesus.
Die to Your Expectations for Your Leaders
Go with a heart to serve, not to receive. Be grateful for your leaders, and look for opportunities to learn from them. Observe them, ask questions, and work hard to help them succeed and grow as a leader. It’s your job to be mentored by them, not just their job to mentor you. Be active in your leadership and spiritual development.
Oftentimes, we idolize our leaders. They seem perfectly wise and never struggle, but your leaders are fallible too. They make mistakes. As you begin to serve under them, your perfect perception of them will be torn down, and they will let you down at times.
We must die to our expectations, so we can better serve and learn from our leaders.
Go with the heart to be a blessing.
Die to Your Expectations of Your Fruitfulness
When new people step into leadership, they’re excited and ready to change the world, so it can be discouraging when their faith is not met with immediate fruit.
We live with a tension between our faith that God can save anybody at any time and the reality that for many people, it’s a long, difficult journey.
We must die to our expectations, so we can better appreciate what God is doing.
Go with a heart of faith based on the promises of God, not the fruit you may or may not reap.
Die to Your Expectations of Ministry
People tend to give too much weight to their own ministry experience, meaning that they believe (sometimes subconsciously) that the model of ministry God used to reach them is the best (or only) way to do it. If left unchecked, this can lead to pride and conflict as you serve on a team.
We must die to our expectations of how ministry ought to be done, so we can learn from others. There is no single best way. Every person is uniquely created in the image of God, and how God reaches them will also be unique.
Go with a heart of humility, ready to listen and learn from others’ experiences.
