Stress! Worry!
Where does it come from?
If all your needs are met, it can’t be from the burden of survival.
It must be another burden altogether.
Perhaps, you have unknowingly laid a heavy demand upon yourself like the religious leaders did when Jesus walked in flesh.
Matthew 23:4, 7, and 8
They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.
They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’
“Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters.
I love what Jesus did for the religious leaders here.
He gave them a powerful life hack:
Refuse to carry a burden God hasn’t placed upon you.
These leaders felt so responsible for the holiness of the Israelites that they legislated more and more rules to control their fellow human’s behaviors.
They forgot a very important thing…
Other people’s decisions don’t belong to us!
They belong to them.
God has not burdened us with responsibility for other people’s decisions.
So, take a deep breath.
Thank God you are only responsible for you.
Perhaps you are responsible to lead others—that’s all of us to some degree.
Then how do you avoid the burden of your children’s, your team’s, your follower’s, or your tribe’s decisions?
Don’t let them call you “Rabbi”.
Don’t let yourself or others think that you are more holy and more responsible than you are.
You are only a brother or sister.
If you have leadership duties, all that means is that you carry the burden to serve the brothers and sisters following you.
Leaders are not superhuman. God is.
And He is the One responsible for how all this plays out.
Whew!
What are some rules or expectations you’ve placed on others that are unreasonable or perhaps too harsh?
What could you do today to reduce the burden on you to enforce these rules and expectations?
Pastor Joshua
Have anything you’d like to add?
Leave a comment below!
Once again you are in my mind…lol.
As I say it… Great and Godly minds think alike🙌
I was just thinking about this today for my next post but I have to find my picture to go with.
It’s the same topic, but a different spin on it.
God is speaking to his people 🙌🙌
Good read 🙌
That’s awesome! God is certainly speaking today!!
One of my favorite Rich Mullins songs is “Who is God Gonna Use” where he began by talking about Balaam’s donkey. In an later interview, Mullins speaks about these lyrics and encourages us to remember when God uses us, that we should not think too highly of ourselves because He’s spoken out of an “ass” before. This has always helped me try to stay humble and to continually keep my pride in check. I am first and foremost a sinner saved by grace and if God chooses to use me to lead, then I should not think so highly of myself because it was never about what I did but what He has done and is doing.
I have in the past, and let’s be honest – sometimes still, tend to expect others to mirror me exactly when I lead. I’m so quick to say “you weren’t paying attention!” or “you’re not taking me serious!”, as if I’m totally reliant on their ability to learn or perform to make my leadership abilities look good. I have to remind myself that when they fail, it isn’t my burden for them to perform well, but only to lead.
Hopefully my comments make sense, this post definitely moved some gears in my head. Thanks for sharing.
Marvin, those are some great insights. I love Rich Mullins, too. I have also struggled with taking offense when my followers don’t behave the way I want them to. My pride is always in need of a check. Thank you for being a great leader with humility!
While other’s decisions are do not belong to us or even our responsibility, but their decisions can affect us individually and then we are responsible for how we handle the backlash of their decision.
Thanks be to God that He does show us how to handle that in His Word. We may gasp, making it hard to breathe, or be in pain to the core of our very being, but again, God makes a way where there seems to be no way.
Great post, by the way.
Thanks, Jackie. God certainly makes a way. For the leaders and the followers in every circumstance.