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May 6, 2020

The Importance of a Pastor's Spiritual Health

By New Churches Team

The Heart

Pastor, you can’t be a machine that someone turns on and off without regarding the internal systems of the heart. Proverbs 4:23 says to keep a watch on your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the issues of life. It is the wellspring of life. You must be careful that you are not doing the work of ministry in a way that you are not guarding your heart and end up being a Pharisee. 

Jesus called Pharisees hypocrites. The word hypocrite simply means an actor; the term used for a stage actor that was part of a production. An actor would be assigned a role, put on a mask, go on a stage, stand before a crowd, and pretend to be someone he was not. Jesus didn’t use this term for other notorious sinners. He only used the word hypocrite for religious leaders that pretended to be something before people than they knew they were not before God. If you are going to be faithful in ministry, you must guard your heart and pursue spiritual health. 

Roots, Not Pipes

Water runs through both roots and pipes, but there is a big difference. As water runs through pipes, it has no positive effect on the pipe. In fact, the longer the water runs through a pipe, the more rust and erosion occur. But as water passes through roots to a tree, the roots get stronger. 

Your ministry should be like a root, not a pipe. You should not be a cold, indifferent, disconnected pipe that teaches, leads the meeting, and plans the program while getting no better for it. There’s no reflection that your work is the outflow of your own devotion to God. 

You need to make sure that you are pursuing spiritual health so that all that you do for the Lord is the outflow of your personal devotion to the Lord. You need to live and minister as Romans 12:1 prescribes, a holy sacrifice You are to live on the altar and recognize that everything you do in ministry – your sermon preparation, your team leadership, your public ministry – is to be done in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. You must constantly pursue spiritual health. 

A Key to Spiritual Devotion

A primary key for spiritual devotion is spiritual discipline. Guard your own devotion before the Lord. If you’ve been in ministry any length of time, you know it’s true. You can write sermons without really reading the Bible. You can lead in public worship without really spending much time in private worship. That’s the danger of ministry. It can become a performance rather than an act of devotion. 

A disturbing warning is found in Matthew 6:1-18. Jesus warns about giving in a way that is a show before men, about praying to be seen by men, and about fasting or neglecting your appearance so that you might be seen by men. If you aren’t careful, then acts like giving, praying, and fasting can end up being a platform to receive the praise of men, rather than an offering to receive the smile of God. You have to guard your life. A key way to do that is to make sure that every day you are spending quality time with God in private devotion.

To read the remainder of this article, and to listen to the entire video training with H.B. Charles, click here for the full videos and post.

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