READ: 1 Corinthians 3.5-6 NLT
'After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.' 
Think for a moment about the Christian leaders that you have known. I’ve been a Christian a long time and I could easily come up with a list of hundreds of leaders who have helped me to understand the Christian message. I am so grateful to God for them. I can remember very few words that they have spoken even though I must have heard thousands of sermons, but I can easily remember their sincerity, kindness, humour, love, compassion, thoughtfulness and their strength of faith. Every one of them has been different and they have each made their unique contribution. But, at the end of the day, they were all servants. They made their contribution but the person who really matters is God himself because he alone gives life and growth.
It is important that we should love and support our Christian leaders, but it is vital that we don’t exaggerate their importance. Their role is simply to point to the God whom they serve. I say this because I have sometimes seen people become devastated when a leader moves on, or when a minister slips up. God doesn’t call us to worship and serve our leaders, but to commit ourselves wholeheartedly to him. Our leaders are frail and vulnerable like the rest of us. They are on the same roller-coaster of life as us, and they have their ups and down. We need to rejoice in their good days and forgive their bad ones, but ensure that our focus continually is supremely on the One whom they serve.




QUESTIONS: What have you learnt from the leaders that you have known?
PRAYER: Loving Lord, thank you that you give us leaders to teach us and support us in our Christian faith. And we thank you that you are the one who, by your Spirit, gives us growth. Amen

Released on 25 Apr 2021