Who Are You Showing Up For? The Case for Blessing Yourself First
0Top o' the Mornin' to Ya!
TLDR: As Kingdom Family Leaders, we must show up for ourselves first through self-care because you can only love others at the level you love yourself - and neglecting this foundation leads to burnout and unsustainable service to others.
Who are you showing up for? We've got to show up for ourselves. The first pillar in the Kingdom Family Leader path is "bless yourself."
What?
So many times we get busy serving and building outside of ourselves - helping others, creating value, doing more and more. We probably started in a place where we took good care of ourselves, but as we got into the movement, the flow of "I can do more, I can help more," we fall into that pit of despair where we leave ourselves out.
We don't take care of ourselves. We don't bless ourselves through self-care, self-love, and healthy self-talk. All these areas are crucial as Kingdom Family Leaders.
I was reminded of my software company experience. At one point I had a team of eight people - which for me was a lot of people to be serving and paying. But I wasn't paying myself adequately or blessing the business properly. It wasn't adding up because I was sacrificing myself without maintaining the foundation needed for endurance.
Why?
The Bible says "love your neighbor as yourself." When we aren't loving ourselves, we show up at a lower level and that becomes the highest level we can love others at. We can't give away what we don't have or what we don't receive. By loving ourselves, we receive more of God's love.
Look at the failure rate for small businesses in our country - many close within three to five years. Part of that isn't really failure in the traditional sense, but failure to plan, failure to bless the business itself as an entity that needs care and attention for longevity--sustainability.
There are times when I sacrifice and sacrifice and sacrifice. While we want to be sacrificial givers who give above and beyond, we also need to maintain our endurance for the long haul.
Lesson
We need to remember that blessing ourselves isn't selfish - it's essential for sustainable Kingdom impact. When we neglect our own mind, body, spirit, soul, and strength, we eventually burn out and can't serve anyone effectively.
A business built around just one person without proper care and systems will fail. Similarly, our personal ministry and leadership will fail if we don't build it on the foundation of proper self-care and blessing ourselves first.
Apply
Are you taking care of all the key areas? Are you learning something new and sharing that learning? Are you connecting with others - that's the spirit part, the interconnection between people? Are you physically taking care of yourself through nutrition and what you're putting into your body?
Most importantly, are you connected and having a relationship not just with the people God put here, but with Him?
What's one area of "bless yourself" that you commit to paying attention to? What's the first thing you're going to do, and how often, to bless yourself?
This isn't about becoming self-centered - it's about creating a sustainable foundation from which you can serve others for the long term. You can only pour out what you have, so make sure you're filling your own cup first.
You be blessed!
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#BlessYourself #SelfCare #KingdomLeadership #SustainableService #ChristianLeadership