The Legacy JourneySample

Iron Sharpens Iron

I think everyone needs a Paul, a Timothy and a Barnabas in their lives. We need mentors who will share their wisdom with us. We need younger people we can teach and guide. And we need peers who will love us unconditionally and hold us accountable for the choices we make.

For me, I’ve got 12 guys who make up what we call our Eagle Group. We meet in my office every Wednesday morning at 7 a.m., and that’s been our program for the past 14 years! And I’ll tell you this: If one of those guys tells me something, it’s almost the same as my wife telling me something. That’s how important these guys are to my life and my spiritual walk.

I hear a lot of distant voices who think they’re called by God to tell me what I should or shouldn’t do, but I don’t give them any weight. They really don’t know me, and they don’t have a history with me. They may have great intentions, but they haven’t earned the right to speak into my life that way.

But the men in my Eagle Group are a different story. They have invested in my life for more than a decade—and I’ve invested in their lives. We’ve walked through so much together, so we’ve earned the right to speak truth to one another.

Proverbs 27:17 compares those kinds of relationships to iron sharpening iron. In the old days, people sharpened their knives or swords by rubbing two blades together. Accountability does the same thing for personal relationships.

If God hasn’t moved people into your life to fill that role, start praying for Him to do just that. Find your own Eagles and sharpen your iron. The process might not always been fun. In fact, it can be pretty painful at times. But it’s worth the temporary discomfort because it makes a huge difference in our lives and our legacies.