We are starting with Timothy today and we are framing our discussion around our 4 areas of our life that we want success in as Christian Leaders. That’s right you are a leader. Even if you don’t feel like it, you are leading your family and you are representing Christ at every single interaction with every single person you encounter. Our goal is to highlight what daily habits should make up the life of a man who is successful in living the best life possible, and we use Christ as our role model. If we do the small things daily, then we will look back on our life with no regrets.
1 Timothy ch 1 Notes.
“The whole point of what we’re urging is simply love —love uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith, a life open to God. Those who fail to keep to this point soon wander off into cul-de-sacs of gossip. They set themselves up as experts on religious issues, but haven’t the remotest idea of what they’re holding forth with such imposing eloquence.”
1 Timothy 1:5-7 MSG
http://bible.com/97/1ti.1.5-7.msg
Leading by example. How to lead without being a hypocrite.
We must practice what we preach. What do we preach?
God first. Trying to copy Jesus in the way we live our life. Our entire life, all areas.
Our game is Love. We must define Love if that is our goal.
So week one we start off by defining the attributes of Love. studying them. Meditating on them. Knowing them intimately so they may be present in our being. So that through all of our actions, we represent Christ love.
We live our life by a code. By claiming we follow Jesus, we have to represent Him in all that we do or we not only are not going to attract people but we will actually repel them because we are not authentic.
- We spend time in the word every single Day. Jesus pulled away from everyone and plugged into god. Every single day. This is not optional. He only did “god approved”activities. He checked in with god like you check your schedule or check your spouse before you commit to something. We do that with god. God is it your will for me to do this? We listen. God will show us.
- We honor our family. We raise them. We love them like Christ loved the church. Which means we lead by example. It means we love unconditionally even though they make mistakes. It means that we give sacrificially. It’s not about us. It’s about what is gods plan. We make sure they are properly taken care of which doesn’t mean no hardship, but they are trained and equipped in how handle it.
- We provide for our family. We take the stress out of our relationship by working hard as if for the lord and by living within our means so that we are not a slave to debt. We draw the boundary lines so that work doesn’t become Our idol. We work hard when we work, and we turn it off so we can be present with our loved ones.
- We take care of our body that god gave us. We only get one. We eat sleep and exercise in a way that shows God thank you and that we respect him and honor him.
That’s it. Beyond that, we eliminate things that don’t fit. We ruthlessly commit to these 4 things. We are intentional about every decision and every transaction we make. We protect our time, we guard it with our life.
Discussion questions for today:
What is our responsibility, as men of Christ leading our families, to ourselves?
What does the Bible say about being a leader?
How do you take care of yourself to be the best leader possible without being selfish?
What are you struggles with putting yourself first and how do you overcome them?
