Faith Touching Two Worlds - Leadership Begins Leading Yourself

Leadership Begins with Leading Yourself

Over the last several years, my definition of leadership has completely changed.

When I was younger, I thought leadership was about influencing other people, or having a position or a title.

Today, I believe leadership begins by learning to lead yourself.

Learning to tell yourself the truth.

Learning to discipline your emotions.

Learning to renew your mind.

Learning to say no.

Learning to obey God when your flesh wants something different.

Learning to become the same person in private that you are in public.

The greatest person you will ever lead is the person you see in the mirror every morning.

I’ve also discovered something else.

The more I grow, the more people I can help.

Growth isn’t selfish.

Growth is stewardship.

If I become spiritually healthier…

Emotionally healthier…

Financially healthier…

Mentally healthier…

Then I become a better husband, father, pastor, businessman, and leader.

God isn’t just changing my life.

He’s preparing me to help change the lives of others.

Jesus spent nearly thirty years developing before three years of public ministry.

God is never in a hurry to promote someone He hasn’t first developed.

One of the greatest areas God has been developing in me has been my understanding of money, generosity, and stewardship.

For years, I thought financial literacy was mostly about money.

Today I know it begins somewhere much deeper.

It begins with the heart.

Jesus said,

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Matthew 6:33 (NKJV)

Notice Jesus didn’t begin with money.

He began with God.

Everything in the Kingdom flows out of our relationship with Him.

One of the greatest lessons I’ve ever learned about money didn’t come from a seminar.

It came from watching my parents, Johnny and Rose King, the founders of Christian Outreach Center.

My father went home to be with the Lord in November 2001.

My mother, Pastor Rose King, is now 83 years old.

Neither of them came from wealth.

Neither of them came from privilege.

My mother grew up in South Dallas with four sisters. They had very little and often wore hand-me-down clothes. During her childhood she entered the foster care system, where she spent part of her upbringing.

My father grew up in one of Fort Worth’s toughest neighborhoods, raised by a single mother with very little support.

The world would have said they didn’t have much.

God saw something completely different.

He saw two hearts He could trust.

Growing up, we always had to lovingly watch my mother because she would give almost anything away if she believed it would help someone or advance God’s Kingdom.

She simply loved people.

As a young man, I admired that generosity.

As an older man, I’ve learned to admire something even deeper.

Her heart was never attached to what she owned.

Years after my father went home to heaven, I began hearing stories I had never heard before.

One businessman told me that years earlier my father had loaned him $10,000 when he was struggling.

Over time that businessman became very successful.

Eventually he came back, determined to repay my father.

Not only did he want to repay the loan, he wanted to give my father substantially more because he was so grateful.

Then he told me something I’ll never forget.

He said my father refused to accept the extra money.

Instead he simply said,

“Pay it forward. Help someone else. Lead people to Christ.”

I sat there speechless.

Then more stories began to surface.

Story after story.

Person after person.

Acts of kindness no one knew about.

No announcements.

No recognition.

Just obedience.

Several years later I began reviewing decades of Christian Outreach Center’s financial records.

Honestly, I was overwhelmed.

I had no idea how much had been given away over nearly five decades.

We weren’t looking at what the ministry had accumulated.

We were looking at what had been released into people’s lives.

Healthcare.

Scholarships.

Prison ministry.

Burial assistance.

Single mothers.

Widows.

Families in crisis.

Community outreach.

Mission work.

Job creation.

Benevolence.

Millions upon millions of dollars in charitable impact through almost fifty years of faithful ministry.

Then I understood something.

Christian Outreach Center was never built around money.

It was built around people.

We had wealthy business owners.

Middle-class families.

People struggling financially.

People with almost nothing.

Inside our church, status meant nothing.

At the foot of the cross, everyone stood on equal ground.

That changed me.

But God wasn’t finished teaching me.

As I matured, He showed me something I had never understood before.

Generosity without wisdom can become unhealthy.

For years I made decisions because I felt sorry for people.

I confused compassion with obedience.

I thought loving people meant always saying yes.

Sometimes I was actually enabling people instead of helping them.

My emotions clouded my judgment.

Then God taught me one of the hardest lessons of my life.

Learning to say no can be just as spiritual as learning to say yes.

I realized I wasn’t called to rescue everyone.

I was called to obey God.

Sometimes obedience means giving generously.

Sometimes it means waiting.

Sometimes it means allowing people to grow through the consequences of their own decisions.

That lesson transformed my leadership.

It transformed my finances.

It transformed my relationships.

It transformed my peace.

Today I don’t give because I feel guilty.

I give because I believe God is leading me.

Then I finally understood what Jesus was teaching the rich young ruler.

Jesus wasn’t against wealth.

He was exposing the man’s heart.

Money wasn’t the problem.

Attachment was.

His identity had become connected to what he possessed.

That is why leadership begins with leading yourself.

Because if you don’t lead your own heart…

Money will.

People will.

Emotions will.

Fear will.

Approval will.

But when God leads your heart…

Everything else begins to fall into place.

My goal today isn’t simply to make more money.

My goal is to become the kind of man God can trust.

To love Him first.

To love people deeply.

To steward resources wisely.

To continue growing.

Because I have learned one truth that continues to shape my life.

I can help far more people when I allow God to continue helping me.

And that is what it truly means to live by faith while touching two worlds.