Lead Like Jesus: Principles For Small Group LeadersSample

MAKE IT PERSONAL (and inspire their faith by your example)

Jesus didn’t talk a big game with His disciples and then act differently when they weren’t around. He lived the things He taught about love, about serving, about discipline, about faith, and about promise. He modeled healthy boundaries when He took time alone to think and pray. He modeled community when He laughed at weddings and joined tax collectors for dinner. But He didn’t just do those things in order to set a good example for the disciples. He did those things because they were important. He did those things because they were necessary for His own spiritual health.

How you live when you’re away from your few is important because it impacts your effectiveness and authenticity in group. Leading a small group will take from you. It’s the nature of the job. Jesus poured Himself out (metaphorically as well as physically). But in order for a glass to be poured out of, it has to be poured into first. Fill your own cup. Fill it by pursuing a relationship with Jesus for yourself. Fill it with time in the Word, time in prayer, conversations with people that challenge you, with worship, or with books or devotionals that spiritually feed you. And don’t be afraid to take time away from group and ministry to recharge and build yourself back up. Authentic faith is reproducible. Think about the people whose faith inspired you as you were growing in your relationship with God. If an example can inspire you, it will be sure to inspire the minds of your kids and students. So let your faith be a personal thing you tend to when your few aren’t around so it’s an authentic, easy-to-see thing when they are! 

Questions:

What are some of your spiritual priorities? How do you fill yourself up so that you can pour into others?

What are some areas in your own life that could be strengthened and refined? What can you do to make those things a priority?