Leadership Thought: Finishing Strong by Being Consistent Like My Friend.

Dear Friend

One of the joys of writing daily Leadership Thoughts is the encouragement I receive from others who are running the spiritual race with me. Yesterday I received the following e-mail from a good friend I knew in a former church I served. Nearly my age, this friend, a former Marine and a 'semper fi' kind of guy to the core, is determined to complete his spiritual race and finish strong. He e-mailed me yesterday in response to my Leadership Thought on avoiding "destination disease"-growing lax in our spiritual disciplines.

"Good timing. I just finished Day One of the Advent Booklet I purchased in our Christian Bookstore, the only one in our area, and gave it to my wife, who is reading through the Bible for the third time.

You remember that little, small-type NIV booklet I was reading for our church's summer reading of the New Testament? I finished it 6 weeks ago and have been concentrating on Revelation ever since, including a study guide. 

Last week I bought a 12-month subscription of the Daily Bread, which has been the source of discussion for our Men’s Group for the last 30 years and was the source of another Men's group I started about 18 years ago.

I plan to read the Daily Bread daily for my 2022 destination. ‘Gotta’ avoid ‘Destination Disease.’”

No stagnation sickness for my friend. He is spiritually ‘truckin’ and showing no signs of slowing down.

My friend has shown consistency throughout his life, He knows the race is not a sprint, but a marathon and that success is never achieved overnight; It takes time. My friend started slow, but he is now on pace to finish strong.

The growth of our spiritual life largely depends upon consistency. Length is not always strength when it comes to our prayer life. More important is consistency. Length will increase as we consistently spend time with God. It is only natural that as you grow in your love for someone, you will want to spend more time with that person. The same is true in our spiritual life. Don't be made to feel guilty when you read about those great saints of yesteryear who spent hours in prayer. It took each of them time to develop that spiritual discipline, and I bet that every one of them started slow-maybe a few minutes at first- but day after day they found themselves spending more and more time with Him.

Yes, if you want to finish strong spiritually, you must cultivate that “slow and steady wins the race” mentality.  It is important to develop consistency and pace yourself spiritually.

Moses, I am sure, knew something about consistency. In Hebrews 11:27 we read two words: “He endured.” Moses had staying power. He was durable. He was in for the long haul, and even at 80 when others had dropped out of the race, Moses was still going strong and still blessing the lives of others. That's what I want for my life, and that's what I hope you want for yours as well.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom