This article was written by a ministry leader who wishes to remain anonymous.
Be encouraged and know that God sees you, and He’s with you.
Have you ever found yourself looking back and thinking, I wish I had ______?
It’s not a pleasant feeling knowing that you should have done things differently. Usually, it results in either missed opportunity or someone getting hurt. That person might have been you or someone you care about.
As a children’s ministry leader, or any type of ministry leader, there are many things we might look back on and wish we’d done differently.
If Things Could Be Different
This article has a few things I’ve heard in ministry circles. And I’m hoping that by my sharing, you won’t have to say any of these in disappointment.
- “I wish I had spent as much time caring for the spiritual health of my own kids as I did for those in my ministry.”
- “I wish I’d focused more on people and less on programs.”
- “I wish I’d made the gospel more central in my ministry teaching, rather than simply teaching good character.”
- “I wish I had read God’s Word for the sake of reading God’s Word and not just for preparing my lessons.”
- “I wish I’d done ministry with a team mentality rather than too often doing it alone.”
- “I wish I’d taken all the time off I was given instead of working through so much of it.”
How to Guard Yourself from Ministry Burnout
How to Guard Yourself from Ministry Burnout
How to Guard Yourself from Ministry Burnout
- “I wish I’d had more face-to-face conversations on the floor with kids rather than rushing through every Sunday morning putting out fires.”
- “I wish I’d gone to service more.”
- “I wish I’d been bolder in replacing tradition with vision.”
- “I wish I’d developed people to lead ministry with me as much as I equipped people to do ministry with me.”
- “I wish I hadn’t let my work for the church replace my own relationship with God so often.”
Stop the Regrets before They Happen
Maybe one, some, or even all of these phrases resonate with you as you read them. Don’t let yourself sit in discouragement and remember that you can make a change today. Be encouraged and know that God sees you, and He’s with you.
Lean into Him and let Him lead the way.
- Spend time with Jesus first and foremost. To help you along the way, be encouraged to have a personal spiritual growth plan that includes relationship and accountability.
- Be intentional about identifying and living out priorities in both your personal and ministry life.
- Think about and invest in people first. Whether that’s developing a leader or playing with a child on the floor, always remember that people matter most.
