By Larry Barker

“Know yourself to lead yourself to become a leader worth following” (Giant leadership materials). 

If you desire a healthy church and ministry, you must first make sure you are healthy. The number one priority of any leader is to determine reality, which begins in the leader’s own life and soul. Are you spiritually healthy? How is your soul doing? Knowing God and knowing yourself are intricately intertwined in determining how your soul is doing, and there are definitely ways of determining if you are healthy or unhealthy. 

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you” (Psalm 63:1). 

As a leader you must remember to focus on your own soul first, because it is the spiritual element that binds together all aspects of who you are as a human being into one person. John Ortberg captures this well in Soul Keeping: “The soul is the capacity to integrate all the parts into a single, whole life. It is something like a program that runs a computer; you don’t usually notice it unless it messes up.” 

There are five dimensions or “selfs” to your soul and who you are: spiritual, physical, emotional, intellectual, and relational. 

“My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord” (Psalm 84:2).

Remember, these five dimensions are very intricately interwoven. If any one of the five is out of alignment, the other selfs are impacted as well. Scripture speaks very clearly to all five of these as they make up who you are. However, your spiritual walk with Christ is what will have the greatest impact on who you are and whether your soul is healthy or unhealthy. Effective biblical leadership is three-dimensional and includes your personality (how you are hard-wired), your ability (what you have learned both through experience and training), and your maturity (your walk with Christ).

Maturity is knowing Christ (intimacy), personality is knowing yourself (inclination), and ability is knowing the stuff (instruction). 

First, are you abiding in Christ and do you long to know Him and the power of His resurrection as well as the fellowship of His suffering? Leadership means you demonstrate what a personal walk with Christ looks like through your own spiritual disciplines being a leader who prays continually and is in His Word constantly (Acts 13:2). There are several tools that can help you in this: an intentional quiet time, S.O.A.P., discovery Bible study, prayer retreats, silence, stillness, and solitude. You understand the need to be with Jesus.

Leading yourself also includes self-discovery of how God uniquely made and hard-wired you (Jeremiah 1:4-5). What areas of who you are do you need to allow the transforming power of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit to transform? Some other tools to help you are personality profiles, spiritual gift tests, counsel and confirmation by spiritually mature mentors who know you well. What drives you and what are your motives for why you do what you do? Are you driven by ambition, appetite, or approval? If approval is a key motivator, then applause can easily corrupt you, and criticism can easily crush you.  

Leading yourself includes intimacy with Christ (spiritual disciplines), knowing your inclinations (self-discovery), then your abilities and instruction (skill development). This is knowing the “stuff” you need to know and is actually the easiest to improve and find what you need. Tools here include the following: 

developing a disciple-making pathway and leadership pipeline 

systems training 

handling and resolving conflict 

time management  

Leaders must remain teachable and strive to be life-long learners. Are you willing to listen to others and learn from others? Find a mentor who has been where you want to go and is willing to help you get there.  

So how do you know if your soul is healthy or unhealthy? Reach out to us and ask for our resources such as:

• Self-Assessment Evaluation
• My Spiritual Journey Evaluation
• Spiritual Gifts Inventory
• Know Yourself to Lead Yourself
• The Peace Index
• Self-Preservation Guide
• 5 Gears
• Resilience Questionnaire
• Personal Growth Worksheet
• Church Health survey

We are here to help you navigate ministry, connect you with mentors, and resource you in the journey. Reach out to us at larry@bmaam.com or heidi@bmaam.com because we desire to provide free resources and tools where you need it, when you need it most!