{"id":924,"date":"2023-06-01T15:40:11","date_gmt":"2023-06-01T20:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/?p=924"},"modified":"2023-06-01T15:40:11","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T20:40:11","slug":"sacrificial-service-in-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/sacrificial-service-in-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacrificial Service in Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-one-full fusion-column-first fusion-column-last\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-column-wrapper-legacy\"><div class=\"fusion-aligncenter\"><a class=\"fusion-button button-flat fusion-button-default-size button-custom fusion-button-default button-1 fusion-button-default-span fusion-button-default-type fusion-has-button-gradient\" style=\"--button_accent_color:#000000;--button_accent_hover_color:#000000;--button_border_hover_color:#000000;--button_gradient_top_color:#dead36;--button_gradient_bottom_color:rgba(222,173,54,0.85);--button_gradient_top_color_hover:rgba(222,173,54,0.85);--button_gradient_bottom_color_hover:#dead36;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/Day-of-Prayer-Devotions-June-2023_French.pdf\"><span class=\"fusion-button-text\">\u2022\u2022T\u00e9l\u00e9chargez les documents en fran\u00e7ais\u2022\u2022<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"fusion-sep-clear\"><\/div><div class=\"fusion-separator fusion-full-width-sep\" style=\"margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:5px;width:100%;\"><\/div><div class=\"fusion-sep-clear\"><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-1 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-one-full fusion-column-first fusion-column-last\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-column-wrapper-legacy\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God\u2019s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God\u2014this is your true and proper worship.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 (Romans 12:1)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Apostle Paul spends the first half of Romans explaining the salvation story in great detail\u2014that Jesus died for us while we were sinners and helpless to save ourselves. He goes on to explain that God did not reject His chosen people Israel, but that they rejected Him. I imagine the Christians in Rome asking Paul, \u2018How can we <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">know <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">if we are chosen by God? Is it possible that God will <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">un<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-choose us?\u2019 The answer in Romans is, \u2018Look at all God has done to choose you and save you. Look at how faithful He is. Now, are you willing to choose <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Him?<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Paul spends 11 chapters carefully laying out God\u2019s faithfulness, and then he says, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God\u2019s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God\u2014this is your true and proper worship\u2019 <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Romans 12:1).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our proper response to God\u2019s incredible goodness is to offer Him our whole lives. To be \u2018living sacrifices.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The question for us is: <\/span><\/i><b><i>What does it mean to live and lead as a \u2018living sacrifice\u2019?\u00a0\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Three Qualities of Leading as \u2018Living Sacrifices\u2019<\/span><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we read Romans 12, three qualities of being a living sacrifice stand out:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>A renewed mind<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (v2). The first thing that changes is our thought life. We see ourselves and others differently. We do not think in the same ways as our culture around us does. We allow God to transform how and what we think about.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Humility<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (v3-8). <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leading as a living sacrifice means humbling ourselves to learn and grow from the wisdom, experience, and skills that God has placed in others.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Love<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (v9-18). <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is easy to get so focused on tasks and projects that we forget the need to love, care, and listen to the needs of those we lead. Leading as a living sacrifice means taking the time to love others sincerely.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s continue our study of sacrificial service in leadership through the devotion attached.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-aligncenter\"><a class=\"fusion-button button-flat fusion-button-default-size button-custom fusion-button-default button-2 fusion-button-default-span fusion-button-default-type fusion-has-button-gradient\" style=\"--button_accent_color:#000000;--button_accent_hover_color:#000000;--button_border_hover_color:#000000;--button_gradient_top_color:#dead36;--button_gradient_bottom_color:rgba(222,173,54,0.85);--button_gradient_top_color_hover:rgba(222,173,54,0.85);--button_gradient_bottom_color_hover:#dead36;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/Flourish-June-2023_English.pdf\"><span class=\"fusion-button-text\">\u2022\u2022Download the Devotions\u2022\u2022<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership-skills","category-leadership-challenges"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=924"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":928,"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/924\/revisions\/928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reconciledworld.org\/flourish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}