Whose Hand is on Your Bow? Pt2
Leadership in Context with Keith Tucci
Episode 133
AN ARROW MUST BE SHARP. AN ARROW MUST BE STRAIGHT. AN ARROW MUST BE AIMED.
WHOSE HAND IS ON YOUR BOW?
How much pressure should you allow a hand to put on your bow? Your bow refers to something in your life that helps you hit the mark.
HAND #1: MONEY
We all have to deal with money in our lives. The richest person and the poorest person both think about money. Whose hand on financial matters applies the tension to your life? The great American dream? Trying to please or impress someone else? Materialistic gain? The heart of a giver? Being able to empower people financially?
Who is mentoring you financially? I have learned more about money from reading the Bible than any financial books I’ve ever read. God’s Word has a stronger hand on me than any book I like about finances.
The handling, making, spending, giving, and sharing of money is important. Giving is a foundational issue in Scripture. You cannot be a disciple of Jesus Christ if you are not generous. Jesus emptied Himself and gave everything. He has asked us to do the same. That starts with the tithe. If you struggle with that, that means someone else’s hand is on your bow and not God’s, because it’s not the Word of God directing you.
HAND #2: SEX
Next to your commitment to Jesus Christ, who you have sexual intimacy and contact with is going to shape your life more than any other decision you make. It will affect you more than how much money you make, who you know, what your giftings are, what your education is, or where you live.
We have to be very careful as to who we allow to influence this area of our life. We have to protect it and walk in purity.
Often, in the world, when we talk about sex we think of it as just being personally gratifying. That is a wonderful blessing of sex, for sure. But when you read the Scripture (1 Corinthians 7) in regards to marital relationships, sex is a ministry to the other person. In other words, you are putting your hand on their bow.
If you are neglecting your spouse in that way, you are not putting your hand on their bow. If you are not letting your spouse put their hand on your bow, you are neglecting that. If you are letting someone else or something else have their hand on your bow (music, pornography, books), you are knocking your spouse’s hand off your bow.
Everyone’s bow is bent by sex. Who is applying that pressure to yours?
HAND #3: RECOGNITION
Everyone likes to be appreciated. I like being around appreciative, grateful people. Seeking recognition for what we do is different than seeking affirmation from God. When you look at the world and the way some things run, it makes you wonder what drives people. Most of the time it’s recognition. The safest place to be in ministry is to have your life hidden in God. Jesus became of no reputation. He did not allow His reputation to determine His obedience. Our current church world is in a delicate place because so much of the last couple decades of ministry has been determining our recognition status, based on what the world says rather than what God says. This applies to every other area of our lives.
Make sure you get recognition from the right people in your life. Your bow needs that tension. As long as the right people are applying that tension, life will be great. For me, that’s my wife. She’ll tell me that I get a lot of affirmation from a lot of people. I don’t discount that, and I do appreciate it. But her words and her affirmations mean a lot more than anyone else. I want her fingerprints on my bow.
HAND #4: SUCCESS
It’s not a matter of achieving success; it’s the testing that happens once you achieve it. We’ve all seen people who seem to have a character change after they achieve success.
The word success is used only once or twice in the Bible. Faithful is used often. That doesn’t mean that God doesn’t want us to be successful; it’s just not the end goal. The end goal is to be faithful. If you are faithful, then you can be successful.
How much tension is the wrong kind of success putting on your life? Who do you allow to define success for you? That hand is on your bow. Make sure it is a godly, biblical hand that is applying tension to your arrow. If that arrow has the wrong success pressure, it will hit the wrong target every time.
These hands really do mark us. Whose hand is on your bow?
Join us next week as Keith Tucci continues to put leadership truth in the context of the local church. And as always, please like, share, rate/review, and invite others to listen. See you next week!
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