Leadership and discipleship can be a rough calling, but many times it can be rougher than it should be because leaders take it upon themselves to do things that only Jesus can do. When we grow churches, work for revival and ram the presence of God into worship, we do something that only God can do. The most common burden we carry that was meant only for God to do is this: Changing people.
So many Christians struggle with this. I admit that I have struggled with it before and there are still times when I do. One time, I was bringing an alcoholic through his relationship with Jesus, and boy was it tough. I would spend endless nights picking him up from a bar and then preaching to him for hours until he'd pass out drunk only to take him home at daybreak. It was exhausting, but it wasn't my job.
Years later, I have learned to pray for the man and trust God to do His miracle work in that friend, and today he now has a job and is growing in his walk with Jesus. Changing people is never our job, but so many times we struggle with making it our job. When we don't see the results we like or the miracles we'd like to see manifest, we take the reigns and shove the Holy Spirit aside.
Matthew 11:28 say this: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (ESV). Burdens and struggles were never meant to be laid on our feet. We cannot give people transformational power. Jesus calls all of us to come to Him and lay our burdens at His feet.
So if we're not supposed to change people, what are we then supposed to do? Here are two things you can redirect all that energy into.
Change yourself. You can't control people's minds and force Jesus into them, but you can definitely control your own mind. Romans 12:2a tells us, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind" (ESV). We can renew our minds by inviting Jesus' transforming power into us.
Love others. John 13:35 says, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (ESV). We might not be able to change people, but we can love them with the love of Jesus Christ, and as we become channels of that love, that love will be one of the ingredients to seeing transformation. It's not our love that changes people, but the love that comes through us from God. We are simply channels of that love as we watch the Holy Spirit do His work.
