In Mark 10:45, Jesus said For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Servant Leadership is bottom-up as opposed to being top-down. That means that anyone in a spiritual leadership role is first and foremost a servant. Perhaps one of the best passages in Scripture on how not to lead is in James 3:14-16 …

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

Selfish ambition is ego-driven leadership which takes a “lord it over people” approach as opposed to a servant-leader approach. James 3:17 - gives us a picture of the what servant leadership looks like in action …

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

James 3:17 may be called the litmus test of our leadership style. Are we leading like Jesus? Or, are we leading by lording it over people? The church today is desperate for men and women who will lead with wisdom from above.

You can’t reach your spiritual potential as a follower of Christ unless you’re emotionally healthy. The two are inseparable. We have to pay attention to the emotions of fear, worry, anxiety or anger. Our deeper hurts or emotional pain isn’t dormant. It won’t just go away. God wants to us to pay attention to the warning signals and let him meet us in our pain and give us the hope and soul healing that we need.

January is a great time to make a fresh start. Why not get emotionally healthy this year. Break free from whatever is holding you back from being all that God wants you to be. Get rid of whatever is holding you back from experience the “more and better” life that Jesus talked about in John 10:10. The starting is place is carving out some time for spiritual contemplation every day. For example, pick one of the gospels in the Bible and spend some time slowly reading it - asking God to reveal himself and show you an area that you may need to experience change.