This word is submitted by Jack McKinstry (jackmck@netzone.com)

A Word For Leaders

In your journey of faith you, too, were once weak and frail. You had to muster up all the courage that was in you to step out in faith and give voice to what was stirring within. You had to walk through the crisis of making a break from the past, from loved ones, and from tradition. You entered into fellowship with the body of Christ with fear and trepidation. At the outset, your faith was as weak as a kitten. You were wary and easily frightened, not fully comprehending God, His word, or His ways. Your understanding of unconditional love and acceptance in Christ was minuscule. Such were you, my child, at the beginning. Such, my child, are all babes in Christ.

In your journey of faith you, too, were once adolescent in your maturity. You were unsettled yet exuberant. You had to develop maturity through trail and error, learning from your mistakes. Having received loving correction and tender guidance from the Spirit, you began to take on the character of Christ and to embrace the love of the Father.

As you entered maturity, my child, you began to function in gifts from the Holy Spirit. You began to bear the fruit of Jesus as you abided in Him. You began to be useful and of service within the body of Christ. You began to move toward full maturity.

When you reached your maturity in Christ you began to operate in the functional gifts of the Holy Spirit. You became instrumental in the building up of the body of Christ. Your service and ministry became significant in the power and grace of God. Meekness, humility, and gentleness tempered your walk of faith lest you be carried away by the heady stuff of ministry.

Precious child, your gifts and calling are undeniably functioning for all to see. Your long journey of faith, together with the generous outpouring of God's grace, has brought you to a place of public ministry. You have become a shepherd of God's gifts to the body of Christ.

Dear child, as a member of the priesthood of believers in Christ, you are called to be sensitive and extremely careful in your ministry to the church, especially to the babes in Christ. Your functional gifts are but expressions of the priestly office in which you stand. It is the mark of a priest of Christ to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray. It is your calling to exercise moderate and tender judgment, even under extreme provocation. You are called to help others in their restless immaturity and in their human weakness. In your ministry of God's gifts of love and grace, you are a mediator and channel of the Holy Spirit. As a royal priest, your words and actions portray to the assembly the very nature and character of God.

Dear and precious child, always have compassion. Always exhibit lovingkindness. Always deal gently with others, especially with those that are immature in faith and knowledge. Always convey the love of Christ. Always remember that the Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin.