Feeding (shepherding) people fills you because it’s fulfilling. A full heart will always energize a tired body and helps sustain a weary soul. This gives you spiritual leadership stamina.
Here are several warning signs that your need for people is greater than how you feed people, as you lead volunteers.
- Your joy level is low.
- Your frustration level is high.
- You focus is on quick fixes rather than values-driven long-term thinking.
- People have become a bother to deal with rather than an honor to serve.
- The pressure begins to cloud the purpose.
- The demand for numbers overtakes the reward of stories of life-change.
A good leader:
- Loves their volunteers
- Serves their volunteers with their best interests in mind
- Protects their volunteers spiritually by:
- Teaching and affirming Biblical truth
- Praying for God’s favor and blessing
- Challenging and guiding toward spiritual maturity
4. They Are Positive in Nature and Full of Faith in Outlook.
If you throw a party will people show up?
There are parties that are so packed with people you can hardly get in. There are others where there’s chips and guacamole leftover for a week.
Leadership isn’t about personality, but having a positive disposition and strong faith in God is a game changer. The good news is that both are a choice.
Whether or not a leader draws people in, depends in large part on their consistent attitude, overall disposition and general perspective in life. Is your glass half empty or half full?
I’m drawn toward people who have a smile, see the bright side and are forward thinking. Aren’t you? So are your volunteers. If you make life and ministry fun, they’ll have fun too, it’s contagious.
In that kind of environment it’s so much easier to encourage and guide people in their spiritual growth and understanding of the real reason they serve.
Serving is a blast but it’s about eternity.
This article on developing volunteers originally appeared here and is used by permission.
