Abide | Part 2
There is a difference between Jesus abiding in me and me abiding in Him. Jesus abiding in me is salvation. It is the new birth. But me abiding in Him is daily fellowship. It is staying connected. It is growing spiritually. It is total surrender and total dependence on Him every day.
That's why going to church once a week isn't enough. God never intended Christianity to be something we practice on Sunday and put away for the rest of the week. If I want to grow, become fruitful, withstand pressure, and fulfill God's purpose for my life, I have to learn how to abide.
Jesus said in John 15 that He is the vine and we are the branches. God's will is that we produce fruit, and that fruit should reveal Christ to the world. There is a progression in this chapter from no fruit, to fruit, to more fruit, and ultimately to much fruit. I don't want to live my life with no fruit. I don't want my dreams, purpose, passion, joy, peace, and confidence to wither away. I want to keep growing. I want to keep progressing. I want everything God has for me.
The key is learning to abide.
Stay Connected When Life Doesn't Go as Planned
Life is unfair. Life is unpredictable. Life is unsafe. Life is uncomfortable. You can have a great plan and something you never expected can happen tomorrow. You can do everything you know to do and still experience disappointment, rejection, pressure, misunderstanding, or unanswered questions.
I've experienced that personally. When I was a senior in high school, my older brother died from a brain tumor at only 23 years old. Our church prayed. Our church fasted. We believed God, but my brother still died. It didn't happen the way I thought it should happen, and I got angry with God.
Maybe you've experienced something similar. You prayed, but you didn't get the answer you expected. You worked hard, but the opportunity went to somebody else. You built a plan, but the plan fell apart. Someone you trusted betrayed you. The business struggled. The promotion didn't come. The relationship ended.
What do you do when life doesn't go the way you planned?
You abide. You don't give up on God. You don't walk away from Him because you don't understand what happened. You don't allow disappointment to disconnect you from your source. You remain. You dwell. You continue. When you keep serving God while walking through difficulty, your life reveals Christ to the world. People begin to wonder, “How are you still standing? How are you still leading? How are you still believing? How are you still moving forward?”
The answer is that there is Someone greater living on the inside of you.
Consistency Separates the Average From the Elite
One of the most powerful meanings of the word abide is simply to remain. It means to continue. It means to keep showing up.
I've learned something about successful people: what separates the elite from the average is consistency.
Most people have difficulty embracing repetition. We want something new. We want something exciting. We want immediate results. But greatness is usually built by doing the right things over and over again.
Think about an elite athlete. The basketball player keeps shooting the same shots. The boxer keeps hitting the same bag. The champion keeps practicing the fundamentals when everyone else has gone home. It isn't glamorous. Sometimes it is boring. But they keep showing up.
The same principle applies to leadership.
Great leaders don't do the right thing once in a while. They consistently do the right thing. They consistently prepare. They consistently learn. They consistently develop people. They consistently show up with the right attitude. They consistently keep their word. They consistently work on themselves.
I've been showing up in St. Louis and serving Church on the Rock for more than four decades. There have been great seasons and difficult seasons, but I've kept showing up. That's the law of the compound effect. Small acts of obedience and faithfulness repeated over time eventually produce something significant.
I'd rather be consistent at good than once in a while great.
Don't underestimate what God can build through your life when you simply refuse to quit.
Build Your Leadership on Truth, Not Trends
Jesus said, “I am the true vine.”
I love that word true. I've never wanted to build my life or this church around whatever happens to be popular at the moment. Trends change. Culture changes. Opinions change. What everybody is excited about today may be forgotten tomorrow. But truth doesn't change. That's why I want to build my life on the Word of God. I want God's Word guiding my marriage, my family, my leadership, my career, my decisions, my habits, and my priorities.
The same is true in the marketplace. Leaders are constantly exposed to new strategies, new technologies, new leadership philosophies, and new cultural trends. Some can be helpful, but they can never become our foundation. Our methods can change. Our tools can change. Our strategies can change. But our foundation must remain the truth of God's Word. A leader who is rooted in truth doesn't have to change convictions every time culture changes direction.
Growth Requires Correction
Jesus tells us in John 15 that every branch producing fruit goes through a process so it can produce more fruit. That process includes pruning.
Everybody wants more fruit. Not everybody wants pruning. Everybody wants growth. Not everybody wants correction. I've seen people ask for feedback, then become defensive when somebody actually gives it to them. But there is no growth without correction. There is no progress without adjustment.
Sometimes God needs to correct my attitude. Sometimes He needs to correct my perspective. Sometimes He needs to deal with my work habits, my priorities, the way I'm treating people, or the words coming out of my mouth. My responsibility is to cooperate. When the Word of God corrects me, I don't want to become angry or defensive. I want to say, “Yes, Lord. I'll change that.” That's abiding.
As leaders, we have to remain teachable. The moment I believe I've arrived is the moment I stop growing. God always has more. There is another level of character to develop, another leadership skill to learn, another habit to improve, another attitude to adjust, another area where I can become more like Christ. God isn't correcting us because He wants less for us. He's correcting us because He wants more fruit from us.
Let the Word Prune You
How does God prune and clean us? Jesus tells us that His Word cleans us. That's why I place such a high value on consistently getting into the Word of God. I don't just want to read the Bible to say I completed my reading for the day. I want to allow the Word to examine me.
When I read Scripture, I should ask, “What is God saying to me? What needs to change? What do I need to apply today?”
If the Word shows me that my attitude is wrong, I change it. If it shows me I need to forgive somebody, I forgive. If it exposes pride, I deal with pride. If it shows me my priorities are out of order, I rearrange them.
That's how growth happens. I don't want to be dealing with the same attitudes, habits, and weaknesses ten years from now that I'm dealing with today. I want to keep changing. I want to keep improving. I want to keep growing. God rewards our cooperation with the process of change with growth, progress, promotion, and fruit.
Pressure Reveals What You're Connected To
The setting of John 15 is important. Jesus was preparing His disciples for enormous pressure. He knew what was coming. Jesus was about to experience injustice and an excruciating death. Judas, one of His own team members, was going to betray Him. Peter was going to deny Him three times. Most of His disciples were going to run away. Jesus knew His disciples were about to experience confusion, fear, disappointment, betrayal, and unanswered questions. What did He teach them before the pressure came?
Abide in Me.
That tells me something important about leadership. We shouldn't wait until pressure arrives to develop our relationship with God.
Abiding prepares us for pressure. You don't build spiritual strength in the middle of the storm. You develop it every day through fellowship with God. You read the Word when life is good. You pray when life is good. You worship when life is good. You stay connected when everything is going your way. Then when pressure comes, you have roots.
Pressure will come in leadership. There will be financial pressure, people pressure, family pressure, decision pressure, criticism, disappointment, and seasons when you simply don't understand what is happening.
The question isn't whether pressure will come. The question is, What will I be connected to when it does?
Keep Showing Up
Maybe you're walking through a difficult season right now. Maybe you're disappointed. Maybe somebody betrayed you. Maybe your plans haven't worked out the way you expected. Maybe you're tired of doing the right thing because you haven't seen the results yet.
Don't quit. Don't give up on God. Don't disconnect from the vine. Abide. Remain. Dwell. Continue. Be consistent. Keep showing up.
Your consistency is doing more than you can see right now. Every time you choose faith instead of fear, every time you open God's Word, every time you pray instead of panic, every time you receive correction instead of becoming defensive, every time you show up when you feel like quitting, you're developing spiritual strength.
Eventually, the compound effect begins to show. Fruit becomes more fruit, and more fruit becomes much fruit.
Leadership Challenge
This week, identify one area where you need greater consistency. Don't try to change ten things at once. Find one thing you know will strengthen your relationship with God and your leadership, then commit to showing up consistently.
Maybe it's spending time in God's Word every morning. Maybe it's praying before you begin your workday. Maybe it's preparing for meetings instead of rushing into them. Maybe it's following through on commitments. Maybe it's listening better to your team. Maybe it's becoming more receptive to correction.
Then ask yourself a second question: Where is God pruning me right now?
Don't resist what He's trying to change. Cooperate with Him. Let His Word adjust your attitude, your habits, your priorities, and your leadership.
Remember, I'd rather be consistent at good than once in a while great.
Stay connected. Keep showing up. Keep doing the right thing. Don't give up when life doesn't go according to plan.
Abide in Him, because consistency over time produces fruit that reveals Christ to the world.