Day 58: Philippians 1:20

“as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.”



The Christian’s task is simple. We honor and serve Christ with every breath.


As Paul wrote this passage, he was lingering in a Roman jail. He wrote about the idea that by either his life or his death he would serve Christ.


As Christian leaders, we need to hear what he’s saying. Not that we want to die, but we have to put ourselves in a place that either way, we are serving Christ. Paul’s death, which would probably be at the hands of the Roman government, would be while sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. His life, on the other hand, would be lived out serving churches and sharing the gospel among the nations.


Either way, his life advanced the Kingdom of God.


It’s because Paul’s footing in life that he can say that his expectation and hope are that he will not be ashamed. Either way he goes, Christ is honored and served.


Paul learned something that we need to learn: There are things worse than death. Lots of them. Paul’s next words were “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Christian leaders have to learn this principle.


Many of us live so comfortably that I’m afraid at the end we will be ashamed for not having taken any chances and not advancing the Kingdom of God when we could have, even at the expense of our lives.


How is your footing in life? Can you honestly say that today, no matter if you lived or died, you would be serving Christ?


Most of us probably can’t. But we should be able to.


Take a careful look at your life. Can you approach it like Paul did: with the expectation and hope that after your last breath, you won’t be ashamed of your conduct while you did breath?


CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: Our entire life should be honoring to Christ. We should serve Him in both our life and with our death.


Here’s a set of verses to meditate on Today: Acts: 7:54-60


Prayer: Father, guide me and show me your ways. Show me where I don’t honor or serve you, and forgive me. Show me how my life and death can honor and serve you. In Christ’s name, amen.

Day 46: Philippians 1:9-11

“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”



We don’t think much about the word “love,” probably because we use it in so many ways. You love cheeseburgers, you love this movie, you love (fill in the blank). We’ve kind of lost the meaning of love in all the usage of it. At the very least, we have perverted it’s meaning and lost the real power behind the term.


Look closely at this passage from Philippians and see the power behind God’s love: through love, when coupled with knowledge and discernment, you can see what is excellent, and bear fruit for the kingdom of God. Now that’s a powerful love.


So what does one have to do with the other? What does love have to do with approving what is excellent? Our answer is best illustrated by the opposite of love: selfishness.


When we are selfish, we approve of the things that benefit us. We don’t bear fruit for the Kingdom of God when we are concerned with ourselves, nor can we be pure and blameless when we are thinking only of ourselves.


Love, the kind of love that we learn from Christ’s love for us, is so powerful that it overcomes our selfishness. True love puts self last, and thinks of everyone else first. With that attitude, it’s easy to see what’s right, instead of easy; beneficial to others, rather than beneficial to us; and what advances God’s kingdom, rather than our kingdom.


Love has this power, and it’s a tremendous power. It’s a world-changing power. It’s a power that only comes from God.


By this power we can see what is best, and take the right path that God has laid in front of us.


CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: A Christian leader loves supremely. They love God and others in such a way that self is lost, and they can see what God approves and the path they should take.


Here’s a set of verses to meditate on today: Acts 26


Prayer: Father, consume me with Your love. Rid me of myself, and replace me with You. Amen.

Day 19: Philippians 1:3-5

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”


A leader has a very special mission from God. We have been allowed a stewardship of not only our own talent and gifting, but that of others as well. Let me unpack that a bit for you: we are given a certain amount of gifts and talents that God wants us to use for His kingdom. When you are a leader, and in charge of an organization or whatever, God is also giving you the talents and gifts of other people that you can direct and focus for His kingdom. That’s an amazing thing.

In Philippians 1, Paul is thanking the Philippian church for their participation in the gospel with him. He is probably referring to their support of him in his ministry, both monetarily and materially.

We need to be thankful for the people that follow us. They are people that have allowed us to lead them. These people aren’t a trophy on your shelf or a feather in your cap. They are people with gifts and talents, who, just like you, have been created for the purpose of bringing glory to God.

Don’t forget to treat those people who follow you as human beings. Leaders in the secular world are well known for treating their followers like resources: just another paper clip, computer, or cell phone that is theirs to use. That is not the MO of the Christian Leader. We understand that if we mistreat the people He has given us to lead, He can just as easily take them from us.

Like Paul, be thankful for those people that God has allowed you to lead. We are all in partnership with God in the gospel.

CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: God allows us to lead people for His glory. Don’t treat them as things. Be thankful for them and be in prayer for them.

Here’s a verse to meditate on today: Luke 22:24-30

Prayer: Father, thank you for giving me a stewardship of leadership. Thank you for those people that have partnered with you in the gospel. Thank you for giving them to me to lead. Help me treat them with the same love and respect that you treat them. In Christ’s name, amen.