It can get wildly discouraging very quickly when despite all of your efforts and talents you still face empty pews on a Sunday morning, or when you’ve been given a great and powerful vision by God that you have all this passion to bring to light only to have it questioned, picked apart or shutdown all under the “noble” banner of practical thinking. It is these types of experiences that can leave any Christian, pastor or teacher left feeling unheard, empty, isolated and even hypocritical when it comes down to it.

It’s easy for us to want validation and appreciation after all the effort that goes into making a ministry work, hey, it’s even logical to want that. There’s just one little problem with that, ministry is what we’re called to labor and suffer for as our own display of appreciation for what Christ has done not to showcase what we have to offer. We need to be careful about over emphasizing trivial things over where we have been called to.

Today, I am going to share with you all three tips that I received from God’s word that not only will protect us from these negative and pitfalls but will also give us a healthier perspective with our ministries as well as allowing us to enjoy the life the Lord has given us.

Remember to Smell Your Roses

We’re all guilty of looking at our workload and counting the expectations we believe others have placed on us and we use this to rationalize the thoughts of keeping our noses to the grindstone as we prepare even to sacrifice things that we would rather be doing which isn’t always a bad thing unless it always becomes an expectation for us to do so.

The moment our churches and jobs begin to expect us to always be willing to give up our personal things for everything, we know for certain we have developed an unhealthy working relationship that won’t just put strain between us and our families but also on our relationship with the Lord. We need to have our own private time away from our ministries not just to recharge our energy levels but so we can properly lead our own families.

This should include first a healthy intake of scripture and prayer time to receive our filling as we prepare to go back and fill others. Second, this private time should include your spouse and kids, or if you aren’t currently married that doesn’t mean that you have a free pass to this step but rather use this time to focus on your most rewarding, highly prioritized relationships.

Finally, and most importantly while you’re taking in this private time it’s crucial that you remind yourself that this is just a break not a distraction. The difference is a distraction is an escape from responsibility and a break as a short notable relaxation recharge with the attempt to get back to your responsibilities.

If we all can learn to follow Christ’s example of “Smelling Our Roses” I am confident that not only we will find ourselves renewed and ready to do our best work but that we will have stronger, more healthier relationships with our families as well as our Lord! Keeping our hearts burning with truth rather than burning out under pressure.

Become a Listener Rather than a Speaker

As a preacher I can attest to the very real issue of always seeming like I have to have a response to a topic of conversation. If we are aiming to be as effective for the Lord as possible then we need to stop having “clever” responses or trying to fix other people’s problems when they finally open up to you and learn to just listen.

Foraging long lasting relationships is exactly how Christ was able to effectively teach his disciples the Gospel. He never corrected or interrupted others in conversation to “tweak” their feelings but rather built relationships by listening to who his people were and where they were maturity wise. It was always after Christ had established this relationship that they would come to him and intentionally give him permission to teach them.

This is not just the example we have to look up to, but it is an absolute standard that every Christian, pastor and teacher needs to imitate if we want to be effective in sharing the gospel. Stop speaking when others need us to listen.

Dare to Be Foolish

Finally, after we have adapted the core steps we have begun to set up a healthier relationship between ourselves and our ministerial work life. Nevertheless, our new perspective will never be completed until we ground ourselves firmly in “being foolish”.

1 Corinthians 2:21 KJV

“For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”

Focus on being vulnerable and speak with the simple words that truly reflects your own feelings and experiences that have resulted in your personal faith in Christ. Don’t be fancy, just be the you Christ called in his ministry to begin with and let the Lord’s work be His work alone!

I hope this article not only has touched you in some way but has offered you a fresh sense of renewal. We don’t have to face the dreaded pain that comes with burnout or have to overwork ourselves in order to be the “ideal pastor”, we simply have to be real and genuine as we share the reason we love Christ, and let the Holy Spirit settle the rest. Don’t waste your energy on the battles that belong to the Lord and remember that it’s by the “foolishness” of preaching that men might be saved.

About the Author: John Ervin is a pastor and aspiring Christian writer who is currently serving as the pastor of Francisco General Baptist Church. He often loves to share the gospel alongside his wife and 7 year old daughter.

My husband, Doug, has never forgotten a sermon he heard many years ago.  In fact, he still frequently makes reference to it.  Its title was, “Words Matter.”  The illustration he’s found so memorable came in the form of a question, “Husbands, which statement do you think your wives would rather hear:  ‘You have timeless beauty!’…or…’You have a face that would stop a clock!’?   Don’t both statements say the same thing?”  

This illustration is a powerful reminder that our words do indeed matter.  The old childhood phrase, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me!” is a bold-faced lie.  WHAT we say matters.  HOW we say it matters.  WHEN and WHERE we say it matters.

Over and over, THE WORD that guides our lives has something to say about our words.  In the Old Testament wisdom book of Proverbs alone, we find verse after verse:  

Proverbs 12: 18  “The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”

Proverbs 15: 1,2, 4  “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.  The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly… The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.”

Proverbs 16: 24  “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”

Proverbs 21: 23  “Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity.”

Proverbs 18: 21  “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Then Jesus said in Matthew 12: 36,37:  “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.  For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

As representatives of Jesus and bearers of His gospel, how can we not take care with our words and make them count for God’ kingdom and glory?  May Psalm 19: 14 and 141: 3 be our earnest prayer:  “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer… Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.”  I want all my words to honor You and draw people ever closer to Christ.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

About the Author: Tammy Scheller joyfully serves as a pastor at Enon GB Church in Princeton, Indiana. She loves being a “Nana” to her own and others she’s adopted as grandkids. She enjoys reading and camping with her husband, Doug.

The young minister rises, having just been ordained. He looks around at those who laid their hands on him during that sacred and solemn ordination service. His future is bright. He is beaming with zeal, energized for service, full of dreams, and has a vision of doing great things for God.

But then, without warning, the unexpected happens. In a blink of an eye, forty years have passed. His zeal is largely zeroed out, his energy fades with each sunset, and his dreams are mostly, still dreams. As for his grandiose vision, it has faded with his eyesight. If only he had known at twenty, what he now knows at sixty. Why didn’t someone warn him?

Visions and dreams are good, but they must be anchored in the Word of God and empowered by the Spirit of God. Youthful zeal and energy will fade with age, but spiritual energy doesn’t because it comes from a close relationship with the eternal Christ and a constant consumption of His energizing Words—the Bible.

Although many are called, not all end well. The key to ending well is clarity about one’s calling. What has God called us to do and be? If we fail to correctly understand the call, we open the door to misfortune and a miserable ending. Life is all about What God Wants.

Although we have movies that tell us What Women Want and What Men Want, the Bible clearly states what God wants. God has called us to be faithful, fruitful, and focused. Above all else, He desires faithfulness, not just to Him, but to our spouses, our families, the Scriptures, and His church. If we make anything else our top priority, sooner or later, we will fail to be faithful. If we fail to be faithful to our spouses, we lose our ministry. If we fail to be faithful to our children, we lose our children. If we fail to be faithful to the Scriptures, we lose God’s blessings and the joy of the Lord.

A few months ago in my study of the Parable of the Talents, I realized that Jesus emphasizes faithfulness over fruitfulness. Although the story is about one servant who fails to invest his talents, the main focus is the faithfulness of the other two servants. Jesus didn’t compliment them for putting their talents to work and doubling them. Instead, He commented on their faithfulness. He said, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21). Faithfulness, not fruitfulness is the main thing, but fruitfulness is important.

Unfortunately, churches and ministers are not isolated from the ways and means of the world. The secular world idolizes results. A sports coach or manager can lead his team to the ultimate victory one year and be fired the next for underperforming. Companies are not satisfied with making a profit, they must make more profits each year.

The church, including ministers, often buys into the world’s standard of success, which is numbers. Although numbers are important in ministry because they represent people, numbers must not become the god we worship. We honor God most when we prioritize that which He prioritizes, which is faithfulness. We must not violate the Scriptures to gain numbers on the roll or more money in the plate. We must not trade biblical conversions for superficial confessions for the sake of impressive numbers and personal accolades. Furthermore, we can’t control the results of our evangelism, but we can control our faithfulness to evangelize. We alone are responsible for our faithfulness to God and those whom God has placed in our care. We are pastors—shepherds–not CEOs.

When it comes to being faithful in fruit-bearing, the main fruit is not the bottom line, but the Christlikeness that we radiate. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23 ESV).

A life of faithfulness and fruitfulness is the direct result of a focused life. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV).

The word “looking” comes from the Greek word ἀφοράω, which means fixing our eyes on one thing—Jesus. If we are faithful in focusing on Jesus, we will be faithful in what He wants from us. Consequently, when our health fails us, ministry opportunities abandon us, or death comes looking for us, we will not be discouraged, disillusioned, or disheartened if we have been faithful, for a well-lived life is a life that ends well.

The apostle Paul, the greatest church planter and missionary the world has ever known, did not focus on his accomplishments or convert numbers when death came knocking. He focused on the one thing that Jesus wants most, faithfulness. “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6-7).

If we have been faithful to God and His calling, we can rejoice over a life well lived and expect to hear the words, Well done, good and faithful servant… Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21 ESV).

About the Author: Eddie Fleming is in his 32nd year as pastor of Concord General Baptist Church near Manitou, Kentucky. He is a graduate of Welch College. He and his wife, Laura, have two children, Elizabeth and Evan. He is a writer for Stinson Press and the author of the book “When Truth Knocks.” His website is eddiedfleming.com