Leadership

Last night I was officially inducted into my school's chapter of the National Honor Society, and being the lovely nerd that I am, I was super excited! I knew it was an honor, and that their reputation was one of great prestige, and ranking, but I never understood the full force of the words that were being throne around me at all the meetings and rehearsals . Words like honor, service, dedication, opportunity, and a plethora of others. To me they were just pretty words that made us sound important, and special. However, as I sat there among my fellow inductees, the complete impact of these words crashed right into me. I was chosen to be in that club, because of the things that I have accomplished, and the work that I've done, I was directly where I was suppose to be, I just simply hadn't figured it out yet. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it could be used as a metaphor for Jesus Christ, and His love for us. This club was going to change the course of my life ( just like Jesus did), and I hadn't even figured it out until about 5 sec, before they called my name on stage!
Just like I was chosen for this honor, Christ chooses us to be His children, the only difference is that we don't have to do anything to be invited in. He paid the price for us, and our souls. We do not have to be perfect creatures to be accepted by God, if we did, then no one would be accepted. We are all selfish by nature, and though some people might be kinder or more generous in their nature, we have all messed up, we have all fallen short. God though, being the merciful, and gracious God that He is accepts just the way we are, imperfections and all. He invited us to be a part of His Honor society, to show service, character, scholarship, and leadership to a dying word. We are called to serve the people around us, at our church, at our job, at our school, even within the confines of our own home. We are called to scholarship, this is the pursuit of knowledge, we our called to grow in God, and grow in the knowledge that the only answer to your problems is a relationship with Jesus Christ. We are to become better, and to become images of Jesus. To be His light, and salt in this world, but all that comes from scholarship, and from the pursuit of Godly knowledge, and wisdom. We are also to show good character, this comes from loving people unconditionally, from not getting upset or defensive when someone hurts you, or from just having compassion and understanding when people need you.


The speech that impacted me most at the induction however was the speech of Leadership. It was the one in which I could relate to the most. Being the beautiful, bossy creature that I am leadership has always come easily to me. I'm not afraid to make decisions that need to be made, or to take charge when I need to, in fact on most days I love it! The speech given though wasn't simply focused on taking charge, and being the "boss", but it focused on the fact that with leadership comes sacrifice. Now in all my wisdom( which seems to be getting smaller and smaller by the day) I had never ever once considered the sacrifice portion of leadership. It's something that God has just recently began showing me, by various hurtful, and challenging trials ( each one was completely worth it just in case you were wondering :)). You know how people say " be careful what you wish for"? Well they really should be saying " be careful what you pray for". I had pretty much always understood that God had a leadership role for me somewhere down my life, and I had always rejoiced in the idea of God wanting me to be a leader, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. It's not to say that I'm no longer excited about it, because I am, if this is what God wants from me then obviously it's all going to work out, but I am no longer very excited about the road I have to take to get to that leadership position. A very wise person I know once said " the road to greatness isn't one I would wish on anybody, you don't get to be in God's favor without going down a tough road first". Not saying that I'm destined for greatness or anything, but I figured it applied to the leadership topic as well. When I first heard that statement I didn't pay any attention to it. I mean how could the road to God's favor not be great? Over the past few months however I've discovered that being a "leader" isn't always an easy thing, actually it's not an easy thing period. Being a leader means sacrificing your own wants, and desires, for the good of others, it might be people you love, and it might be total strangers, whom it might be doesn't matter, the sacrifice is still there. Being a leader means many times doing the jobs that no one else wants to do, it means finding courage in the face of trials, and lending your strength to others when they need it. It means that even if you feel emotionally , and physically drained you have to be above reproach, and make yourself available to those who need you. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, I know this. I also know that I don't have even a portion of those characteristics, and that I'm going to have to learn them, and the only way we learn and grow is through trials. That's the part I'm not exactly thrilled with, I just experienced a few, and they weren't like anything I've had to deal with in the past. I guess I should be happy, I'm growing and the harder the trial is, the more God knows you can handle right? Only I'm not sure I can be that what God wants me to be. I see the amazing women around me, they're leaders, spiritual warriors, encourages, healers, women that are so strong and laugh in the way of adversity, and I wonder if I'll ever get there. I'm sure some day I'll be more spiritually mature, and be a good women of God, I'm just not sure I can live up to the standard they've left for me. Ask anybody that knows me, I hate disappointing people, I just don't think I can handle disappointing the women who practically raised me spiritually, I also don't know if I can handle the role of leadership God will want me to play some day(hopefully it'll be a small one). The beauty of all of it is that I know I can't do it. Not on my own anyways, I'm gonna need to lean on God all the way through to be successful, like I said I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, isn't that a great verse? Honestly it's the only thing that's kept me going the last couple of weeks, the power of God's word has never seen so strong to me, and I love it. I've not only been inducted into the National Honor Society, but I've been inducted into to God's Honor Society. I am learning things that will not only make me a better citizen, but a better christian, and help in my path to further God's kingdom. I just want to encourage anyone who might be reading this to never settle, always strive to do better, only stop when you've become perfect, honor God, and be the closest reflection of Him you can be, and if you've never been inducted to any honor society, know that God wants you in His, He has met all the criteria for you already, you simply have to accept your invitation <3