{"id":2016,"date":"2023-09-23T06:53:06","date_gmt":"2023-09-23T06:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/2023\/09\/23\/essential-habits-for-youth-leaders-to-attain-success\/"},"modified":"2023-09-23T06:53:06","modified_gmt":"2023-09-23T06:53:06","slug":"essential-habits-for-youth-leaders-to-attain-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/2023\/09\/23\/essential-habits-for-youth-leaders-to-attain-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Essential Habits for Youth Leaders to Attain Success"},"content":{"rendered":"


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By Greg Stier<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Op-ed Contributor
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Students read together on campus.<\/span> | Unsplash\/Alexis Brown<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Over the past 32 years of full-time ministry \u2014 as a church planter, a youth guy and the founder of a parachurch organization<\/a> \u2014 I\u2019ve seen all sorts of youth leaders. Some are like falling stars \u2014 a bright streak of light that\u2019s brilliant but short-lived. Others are like sunrises \u2014 slow at first but increasingly brilliant over time.<\/p>\n

The youth leaders with longevity and impact are not always the flashiest, but most have at least three common habits they consistently exemplify:<\/p>\n

1. The habit of prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Youth leaders worth their salt know where the shaker is. They know it\u2019s not found in the latest youth-ministry-idea books but in the very throne room of God. These youth pastors lead from their knees, so the decisions they make are sound, not silly.<\/p>\n

A consistent immersion in Scripture and a passion to live out their faith authentically grounds these youth leaders\u2019 prayer lives. Like Paul in\u00a0Philippians 3:10-14<\/a>, these leaders aren\u2019t perfect (nor do they claim to be), but they\u2019re surging forward toward the goal of being who God called them to be, all the while finding their strength in Jesus to get them there.<\/p>\n

2. The habit of fitness<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I use the word \u201cfitness,\u201d I don\u2019t mean just sweating on a treadmill or swinging kettlebells. I mean a general lifestyle fitness that extends from the youth leader\u2019s own physical health and includes relational health, learning, and rest.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Luke 2:52<\/a>, we read about Jesus\u2019s development years:<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and all the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus grew fit educationally, physically (how else could he have endured the horror of the cross?), spiritually, and relationally.<\/p>\n

Youth leaders who finish the marathon of youth ministry well usually have overall-healthy lifestyles. Dysfunctional or nonexistent personal relationships and a lack of reading widely, combined with fast food clogging your mind and arteries, is a recipe for burnout \u2014 and a heart attack!<\/p>\n

Mixing in some cardio and weight training every now and again won\u2019t hurt either.<\/p>\n

3.<\/strong>\u00a0The habit of intentionality<\/strong><\/p>\n

Effective youth leaders are intentional youth leaders.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re intentional about\u00a0mission. They aren\u2019t in youth ministry just to exercise a standard program. They\u2019re locked into a church for a specific mission: to make disciples who make disciples. These youth leaders know their prime directive is from Jesus Himself, to\u00a0\u201cgo and make disciples of all nations\u201d\u00a0(Matthew 28:19<\/a>) starting in their\u00a0\u201cJerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth\u201d\u00a0(Acts 1:8<\/a>).<\/p>\n

They\u2019re intentional about\u00a0planning. They heed Solomon\u2019s wisdom in\u00a0Proverbs 21:5<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cGood planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.\u201d<\/p>\n

These youth leaders understand the importance of prioritizing their calendars with the \u201cbig rocks first\u201d before the gravel and sand of lesser things take up their schedules. Many of the youth leaders I know who are the most strategic became more strategic as they developed a\u00a0Gospel Advancing<\/a>\u00a0mindset over time.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re intentional about\u00a0excellence. Effective youth leaders don\u2019t just plan well \u2014 they execute well. They do this through hard work and effective delegation. They gather around them an excellent team and lift up a standard of high quality, from programming to people. What they lack in budget they make up for in sweat equity, creativity, persistence, and prayer.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re intentional about\u00a0evaluation. These youth leaders don\u2019t just do a series of events, talks, and programming and just keep chugging along. They take time to ask the hard questions like:<\/p>\n