Issue #73, January 11, 2012
As we enter 2012 I've been reflecting on why New Year's Day is a significant event around the world. While we know that nothing really changes from December 31st to January 1st, the mental change is profound and results in massive celebrations in every time zone. I conclude that New Year’s is significant because we all desire a fresh start, a new beginning. A new year offers hope for a better life and future. It offers a way to release the frustrations and failures of the previous year and begin with a clean record. It’s like a fresh beginning and it feels wonderful! It is God’s way of giving us a gift of grace to begin again. What does this mean for us as servant leaders?
Servant leaders receive God's grace.
Paul, a dynamic servant leader, saw himself as a recipient of God's grace. “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them– yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). His life and leadership were reflections of God's grace, not his own effort. With this perspective he was able to forget the past and focus on the future (Philippians 3:13-14). Paul daily enjoyed a New Year's perspective!
Servant leaders learn to accept ourselves simply as recipients of His grace. We no longer have to strive for acceptance. Our worth is not determined by our performance, past or future. Servant leaders learn to forgive themselves and receive His grace.
As New Year's Eve party goers rejoice in the coming of the new year, servant leaders should daily marvel at the gift of His grace.
Servant leaders extend grace.
Receiving God's grace is a wonderful gift and I hope that it is already a powerful reality in your life. But servant leaders go a step beyond and offer this grace to others, offering them the fresh beginning that God offers to each of us. What does this look like in different areas of our lives?
In our home.
Servant leaders who have received grace from God also extend grace to their spouse and children at home. At least at the beginning of a new year, we should begin again with those we love the most. Tear up the record of offenses committed by your spouse last year! Forgive your teenager for the mistakes of last year. Start again with that adult child or troublesome in-law!
In our vocation.
Think about those that you work with on a daily basis, your coworkers, superiors and/or subordinates. It's time to begin anew with them as well. Don't carry into the new year the grudges or hurts from last year. Even if they don't change, God can work in your heart and give you a brand-new attitude towards them.
In our leadership.
Whether you lead in the business world, church world, or in another profession the people who follow you need grace! Give them a New Year's gift by offering them a fresh start.
For servant leaders, receiving and extending grace should not be an event only at New Year's. However, this is an excellent time to stop for a moment to thank God for His grace and to reflect on how we can best extend His grace to those around us. Have a year filled with grace! Or, as Paul puts it, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.” (1 Corinthians 16:23).
For further reflection and discussion:
- Are there things which happened last year for which I need to ask God's forgiveness and receive His grace and mercy?
- Why is it sometimes difficult to accept God's grace? What is the result when I don’t fully accept His offer of a fresh start?
- Do the members of my household see me as a person of grace? Why or why not? What can I do to extend more grace to them?
- Have I offered those who work with me the gift of grace this New Year? What step can I take today to give them this gift?
- In my leadership, do I give to others the grace to fail?