Word of the Week - Centered Leadership part II

“I love you, Lord, my strength.  The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.  I called to the Lord, who is worth of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.”  Psalm 18 1-3

Centered Person  Last week in my “Word of the Week”, see below, I shared on the importance of being a Center leader.  What it looks like to be Centered and what it looks like to be un-centered.  I also shared a few concepts from Craig Groeschel’s podcast on how we can become more Centered as leaders.  This week I want to go a little deeper and explore how we become more Centered and secure in who we are as individuals.

Christ at the Center:  I don’t believe we can become great leaders and live to our full potential until we are secure and Centered in who we are at the core of our being.  It’s an inside job, which I am convinced and have personally experienced must be founded in our discovering our true self identity in Christ.  Until we are firmly grounded on the Rock of Christ as our true source of identity and security, we will be standing on shifting sand and thus we will be un-centered and insecure.  I truly believe that it is only by knowing in the depths of our soul that we are a child of the living God, that we can find the grounding to be firmly Centered knowing true north.  This begins with us surrendering our hearts and lives to God and receiving God as our Lord, Savior and the Center of our living and being. “I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”. Galatians 2:20

Remaining Centered:  Chris Hodges shared last week at the impact Conference three key ideas on how we can live Centered lives and be Centered leaders Chris Hodges Impact Talk:

• Character – Being a person of character means that we are bigger person on the inside than we are on the outside.  Character building is an ongoing process in life.  Are we learning and growing through the challenges and adversities of life?  Are we growing wiser or are we allowing roots of insecurity and cynicism to take root in our minds and hearts?  Are we feeding our minds, hearts, souls and spirits a good healthy and balanced diet of godly things that build us up and help our inner man to grow and remain healthy or are we feeding ourselves the junk and discontent of the world and allowing ourselves to be tainted? 

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things”. Philippians 4:8

• Community – The people we hang out with and the groups we associate with have a huge impact on our view of ourselves and of the world.  God created us to be relational and live in community with others.  Dr. Henry Cloud says that “The foundation of every human being is their relational connectedness”.  Pastor Chris says “Show me your friends and I will show you your future”.  It really matters who we hang out with and spend our time around, it will impact and shape who we are and how we see ourselves.  Solid relationships will help us remain Centered. Less than solid relationships can lead us off Center to dangerous territory.  From this perspective we should be asking ourselves, who should I spend more time with, who should I spend less time with or who should I not be spending any time with?  There are several proverbs that state this so well.

“Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get into trouble."
Proverbs 13:20

“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.”
Proverbs 27:17

• Courage – Are we living by faith or fear.  There is no doubt that we all have fears and things in life that intimidate us and try to keep us from being the best version of ourselves in Christ.  It is the primary objective of our adversary the devil to do whatever he can to keep us from what God has for us by keeping us from being Centered and secure in Christ.  He is the master of lies and intimidation.  Courage is not the absence of fear it is choosing the right attitude and mindset in spite of the fear.  Courage is stepping forward through the fear and overcoming.  It is reminding ourselves of the truth of who we are in Christ and stepping out in faith based on that reality.

“The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
Romans 8:37

I believe that the most important thing in life and leadership is to be Centered in Christ, knowing that we are living and breathing for a purpose bigger than ourselves.  This is the abundant life that Christ talked about in John 10:10.  I pray that we all grow in our relationship with Christ so we can become more Centered people and leaders.

Have a great Christmas week.  O come, O come Emmanuel!!!!! 

-Duane