Give Up To Go Up 1 (of 5)

Someone once said, “You have to ‘give up to go up.’” As a leader, the choice is yours:

• Continue leading the way you already do…and most likely experience similar (or declining) results. Most choose to do this.
• Make some strategic sacrifices to increase your influence for Christ. Only a few choose this.

I’ve experienced innumerable benefits and deep satisfaction leading a growing ministry. But with each step up in influence and effectiveness, I’ve had to give up something that was hard to surrender. This week I’ll talk about five things you might have to “give up to go up.”

Give Up Control

One of the first things you must give up to go up is control. Most of us like to control the things around us—especially in ministry.

Some thoughts on control:

• The smaller your ministry is, the easier it is to control.
• The more you try to control your ministry, the more you’ll limit it.
• People who fight to stay in control might attract followers, but they rarely attract leaders.
• Growing leaders learn to delegate authority, not just responsibility.
• Growing ministries are always out of control.
• If we try to control everything, we’re squeezing God out of our ministries.

What are you trying to control that you need to surrender?

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