And there it is, the ultimate goal of every leader and every Christian for that matter, bring glory to God. Too often we are out there looking for the direction or next goal to pursue. We are searching to be be on top or at least be headed that way. When actually we should be seeking to bring glory to the LORD and for us as Christians, that is all. Now as leaders we should also be seeking spiritual maturity and creating new leaders to round out the goals of it all, but the ultimate goal is still to bring glory to God.
Even Jesus did not look to bring glory to himself but for God (John 8:50). The goal of Jesus was to carry out the will of the Father here in this world. He sought the Father’s guidance at every turn, and where His spiritual maturity was well established He did provide for us the pattern to follow in our own growth. And let’s think about it, Jesus taught, not just so others would learn, but so they could take over for Him when He was gone. He created future leaders.
Now, how and when are we to bring glory to God. Well, that is a tough one to answer definitively as for each of us has a different role to play and frankly any number of gifts give by the Holy Spirit. But, regardless of those gifts and/or role, we are to use them to take action (1 Corinthians 10:31). We are not to sit on the sidelines and wait for someone else to do the work we are assigned by God. As spiritual leaders, we are to be in the work and not just directing the work. We have tasks to complete as well as the goals to achieve. Remember those goals start with bringing glory to God and out from there. We are to be taking action to achieve the goal.
And when do we bring glory to God, ALWAYS. At every moment of every day we are to be working to bring glory to God. Not just when things are going well or we are in church worshiping, but always. There will be times when we will be having a bad time of it or suffering and our approach and continued rejoicing will bring glory to God (1 Peter 4:13). Whatever we are doing or experiencing, we are working to accomplish the goal of bringing glory to God.
And there it is. The role as Henry & Richard Blackaby indicate, “Spiritual leadership is moving people on to God’s agenda”. This is done by working toward the three goal of, 1. “Bringing Glory to God”, 2. “Spiritual Maturity”, and 3. “Leading Others to Lead”.
What is your first and most important goal as a leader? Are you looking to rise up and be recognized for the work your doing? What if you were to start all things with the number one goal of “Bringing Glory to God”?