“…commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead the people across the Jordan”
(Deut. 3:28 NLT)
Someone’s leadership has helped you become the person you are today. We have all been influenced by someone imparticular. They have shaped us with their words, actions, and viewpoints. In the same way, we want you to leverage your life and leadership to be a person of influence in the life of another.
Creating and sending leaders means that you are cultivating and developing the people around you. Sometimes God will use you to raise up a new leader to do what you do. Other times God will use you to help people be the best they can be for God where they are. Either way, this core practice is extremely important!
God used Moses to lead His people to the edge of the promised land. But his ministry came to an end and it was time for a new leader. God said to Moses, “…commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead the people across the Jordan.” Although Moses would not make the journey himself, God asked him to prepare, equip, and support Joshua as he got ready to lead. And God does the same thing today. He uses us to strengthen and encourage others as they walk into the place they have been called to be.
Think through your own personal experience as you spend time with God answering the following questions. Ask Him to give you spiritual insight as you reflect.
- Who cultivated you as a leader?
- How did they develop you?
- What do you think they saw in you?
- What have you learned from your own experience that can help you integrate this core practice into your own life and develop the people around you?
- Who can you encourage and strengthen today?
I thank God for every leader that encouraged and strengthened you along your journey and for all those who God will encourage and strengthen through you as your journey with HIM continues.