E-Leader Brand pt. 4 - "E" for Effort

2 Peter 1:5-8

“…giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren (ineffective) nor unfruitful (unproductive) in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Last weekend I had a team retreat with our young adult ministry leaders. It was a powerful weekend where we developed in our friendships, gained a better understanding of each other, gained consensus on the vision, and prayerfully developed a strategy to reach that big picture. To focus our minds for the weekend, I lead the team in a brief discussion on Friday night. One of the key themes of that discussion was the end all objective of being “fruitful” as individuals and as a ministry.

Being “fruitful” is a fundamental pillar of Christianity. Welcome to Jesus 101…He is the True Vine (John 15). When we abide in Him, we bear fruit or in other words works, character, speech, and other demonstrations of Christ’s divine nature and purpose.

Your Christianity is founded on grace and faith but is firmly established through the revelation of fruit in your life. This process of establishing yourself requires the “E” word. Effort.

The passage in 2 Peter referenced above communicates a message of diligence, patient growth, and continuous development. This applies both to our spiritual and our natural activities on earth. When diligent effort is directed towards our relationship with God and the works He has entrusted us to complete, we exude life and fruitfulness.

Evangeleaders do not stop at just faith, but they continue down the path of Godly self development. Show me a successful and fruitful Christian, and I’ll show you a person who has applied a consistent amount of effort. You might be asking, “Well, what kind of effort?” Here are a few examples:

1. Study God’s Word…consistently.

2. Pray and talk with God on a regular basis.

3. Commit to developing in the Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5).

4. Diligently pursue knowledge and wisdom in your field of purpose. (School, mentorship, reading, research, etc.)

5. Consistently apply new knowledge.

If we put effort into this journey, we will see some remarkable results…God’s promise.

Pop the Culture,

B.W.P