Leadership requires constant growth, but many leaders stop moving forward without realizing it. It’s subtle but predictable and avoidable.
Here are six reasons why leaders stop growing and how we can remain faithful in our calling:
- No Accountability: Leaders without trusted voices around them often stall spiritually and personally. Having others who can lovingly challenge us helps us see blind spots and stay humble before God.
- Comfort in Success: Seeing God’s favor upon your life can lead to coasting instead of pursuing fresh challenges that require faith. We can become satisfied with yesterday’s victories rather than seeking God’s direction for today and His fresh vision for the future.
- Exhaustion: Weariness from constant demands can drown out the priority of growth. When leaders fail to rest, they risk spiritual dryness and burnout that keep them from moving forward. I once heard a famous pastor say, “I’d rather burn out than rust out.” That’s nonsense. God wants neither!
- Neglecting Spiritual Disciplines: When prayer, Bible reading, and seeking God are sidelined, leaders lose the foundation for growth. Our strength and wisdom come from abiding in Christ, and without Him, we can do nothing.
- Secret Sin: Unaddressed sin quietly hardens the heart and blocks forward movement. Repentance brings freedom, while hidden sin keeps leaders spiritually stagnant and discouraged. It brings everything to a screeching halt.
- Isolation from Learning: Leaders who stop reading, seeking help, or learning new things risk becoming lazy. Growth requires humility to keep learning and allowing God to stretch us for His purposes.
Can you think of any others to add?
God calls us to remain teachable, humble, and dependent on Him as we lead. Let us be leaders who keep growing, trusting Jesus to work in and through us for His glory.
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