5 Encouragements Every Pastor Needs to Be Reminded of

Pastor, you need to be encouraged. Because ministry is often, at the very same time, a burden and a blessing. You know this. I know this. But sometimes, we need to be reminded of some core truths because, in the midst of the difficult and discouraging times of ministry, it can be easy to forget them.

So if you’re a pastor, these encouragements are for you. Write them down. Put them in your phone as daily reminders. Send them to a ministry friend. Let them seep into your heart.

5 Encouragements Every Pastor Needs to Be Reminded of

1. God’s Word doesn’t return void.

Isaiah 55:11 (CSB) says, “so my word that comes from my mouth will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do.”

God’s word doesn’t return void. So you can preach it with passion, with energy, with confidence, and with fervor. It is not meant to be preached timidly or passively. It is meant to be heralded before any and all who will listen.

So every Sunday and every other time you deliver God’s word, remember that the Holy Spirit is at work to ensure that it accomplishes what He desires it to accomplish.

Yes, you should prepare well. Yes, you should deliver the message well.

But at the end of the day, you get to rest in the fact that God’s word does what God has set out for it to do.

2. Your impact reaches further than your awareness does.

This is a difficult one to remember. Why? Because ministry isn’t transactional. You don’t get to see the fruit of your labor right away. And really, sometimes you never truly know how much you have impacted someone.

Sometimes people will share with you how you made a difference in their lives. Maybe they’ll share with you about a certain moment that made all the difference for them. But oftentimes, even though those moments happened, they don’t.

But that doesn’t change the fact that the impact was made.

Ministry is, many times, thankless. So let me say this to you and I hope you receive it as genuine because it is… thank you.

The faithful plodding you are doing today is leading to a wonderfully amazing harvest in eternity. That is something to rejoice about!

And before you object, “I’m not seeing it right now,” or “this church isn’t receiving my sermons,” or “this church isn’t following my leadership,” let me just remind you… your impact reaches further than your awareness of your impact does. So stop seeing with eyes of flesh and start seeing with eyes of faith.

3. Your greatest, most impactful disciple-making will happen in your home (which is also the church).

For too long, there has been a false dichotomy that has been perpetually pushed and it comes from a horrendous, and likely absent-minded, ecclesiology. Theology makes a difference and if we had better theology we wouldn’t do this. What false dichotomy? What false choice? Too often, we pit the church against our home. Your family, your home, that is the church. It’s not separate from it.

So often, we think through ministry strategically. We make goals for where we believe God wants us to go and how He wants us to lead. But we, oftentimes, don’t give that same level of intentionality to our family.

Your greatest, most impactful disciple-making will happen in your home. Your willingness to intentionally love and invest in your spouse and your kids will be your most significant work. It won’t be a sermon you preach on stage. It will be the sermon you preach with your life in front of your spouse and your kids.

We can take this a step further too. And this is true if you’re a single pastor or married pastor… The times you bring people into your home and gather around the table… Wow. Those moments are in the same category.

4. God created you to be you—He doesn’t need you to be someone else, just be you.

No. You don’t need to be like Andy Stanley or Billy Graham or Derwin Gray or Matt Chandler or Francis Chan. God created you to be you. So stop creating a counterfeit.

Imagine if your favorite preacher decided not to be who God created them to be and spent their entire ministry trying to be someone else. Likely, they wouldn’t be someone you connect with because something would be off.

Something is off in us when we try to be someone instead of being ourself. People will notice. They might not be able to put their finger on what’s off, but it will show.

When I found my voice, my preaching completely changed (for the better).

Ask someone who knows you really well if the person on stage is the person they know to be you. Ask them if your full personality comes to bear in your preaching or if you only tap into one dimension of who God created you to be.

Ask someone. But also be ready to listen to their answer.

Develop some self-awareness. Take the Enneagram and learn about how God has wired you. The Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron is a helpful book on the Enneagram as well.

5. God loves you radically.

You preach and teach this every week. You encourage people with this truth in counseling sessions. But it can be easy to let this truth go to the back of your mind rather than living out this truth in the forefront of your mind.

You are a child of God first. That is your identity. Your identity doesn’t come from the size of the church you lead or the level of excellence that you do things with.

You are a radically loved child of the Almighty God.

Please don’t ever forget that. Rest in it. Bask in it. Glory in it. Rekindle your fire for the God who saved you.

Do your ministry out of the overflow of being with Him.

God loves you radically.

Send this to a pastor friend and leave an encouraging comment to your fellow pastors below.

You never know what someone is going through. You never know how close they are to throwing in the towel and giving up. If this article encouraged you, maybe it will encourage someone else too.

Then go ahead and scroll down and leave an encouraging comment to your fellow pastors who have read this. What do you believe are some encouragements that every pastor needs are? Share them below.

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