many church leaders are hard wired to completely sell out. the ability to disregard personal comfort is high on God's list when He searches the land for servant leaders. the history of God's Kingdom is overflowing with individuals who have handily won stare down contests with common sense. the big but, however, is that God never intended our families or personal faith walks to suffer at the hand of our ministry. unfortunately, successfully navigating this issue proves difficult to pull off. it is not that we don't love our families... it is that we love Jesus so much that we occasionally leave our families in the dust in order to follow Him.
so here's the deal: i struggle with this issue myself. i'm guilty. maybe you've had difficulty maintaining balance, too. one solution for us can be to keep each other in check. lead pastors can encourage staff longevity by watching and coaching the life balance of their team. ministry partners and friends can offer consistent accountability for each other by watching habits and sharpening one another. but ultimately, we are responsible for our own life balance. we must make sure that we aren't quickly saving the world... but slowly losing ourselves and our family.
balancing life's rocks
-matthew
