5 Jobs of a Spiritual Leader – Week 5 – Pour Jesus into People

As Spiritual Leaders, everywhere we go we get to pour Jesus into people.
 
A mentor of mine, who is a Founder and Director of a Men’s Ministry, often said, “I LOVE what I get to do Gary. I wake up every day and get to pour Jesus into men.”

His perspective stuck with me.

Every day, he was laser focused on pouring Jesus into people. His focus was not inward but outward. It wasn’t about what he could get from others, but what he could do to bless others with the love of Christ. I watched him daily live as a conduit for Living Water to flow through to impact others.

The Jordan River flows from Mount Hermon to the Sea of Galilee and then into the Dead Sea. The Sea of Galilee is full of life, beauty, and commerce. The Dead Sea is barren and without inhabitable life and commerce. Why is this? It is essentially the same body of water. What is different?

The Sea of Galilee has inflow and outflow. Living water flows in. Living water flows out.
The Dead Sea only has inflow. Once water reaches the Dead Sea, it becomes stagnant and lifeless. Salt builds up and life become uninhabitable.

As followers of Christ, God designed us to have both inflow and outflow. As we abide in Christ, soaking in His blessings, His promises, His goodness, and His love, we must open channels for outflow to become conduits of the Living Water. As His blessings flow in, we pour them out upon others.

Whether it is serving a teammate, encouraging a friend, comforting a brother who is hurting, loving an enemy, or speaking life to someone random we meet in public, everywhere we go we get to pour Jesus into people.

We are conduits of Living Water.

When we pour out, God moves.

1.   Start every day on your knees declaring your UTTER DEPENDENCE on the Lord and sending the Holy Spirit ahead of you. See Zechariah 4:6, Psalm 127:1-2.

2.   Smile. When you smile, you use your body language to speak life and blessing to others. Never underestimate the power of a smile.

3.   Encourage. When you intentionally speak life into others, it communicates love and value. You can do it in person, by phone, through handwritten notes, or other creative ways. Building others up pours Jesus into others.

4.   Serve. We pour out the love of Jesus when we serve our teammates. Whether it is cleaning up the bus after a road trip, or picking up a trash in the locker room, or going out of our way to give a teammate a ride to the store, serving communicates Jesus love and impacts lives.

5.   Empathize. When you listen to a person’s heart, and instead of trying to fix “the problem” you instead help them process what they are going through with empathy, they experience compassion. You can use phrases like, “I can’t imagine how tough that must be.” “If I were you, I would be feeling this.” Empathy helps to draw out pain in others, which in turn results in them experiencing Jesus love and compassion.

6.   Ask Questions. Every person on the planet loves to talk about one thing: themselves. When you become genuinely interested in teammates stories and experiences, it builds relationship and tills the soil for future spiritual conversation. When you ask questions (not just about spiritual things but them and their life) you pour Jesus love into others because you communicate to them that they are valuable!

7.   Pray. We pour Jesus into people when we bring their need to the throne of grace. Every chance you get to pray with people, consider lifting their burden to the Lord. Prayers don’t have to be long. Even short prayers are powerful!

8.   Send Bible Verses. We pour Jesus into people when we share God’s promises with our teammates. Use Scripture to encourage teammates. God’s Word is powerful and communicates love and hope.