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Three Attitudes of a Lifetime Learner

40 Days of Prayer Study Kit

What's Driving Your Life: A 10-Day Turnaround for a Fresh Start

Daily Hope Devotional: 365 Days of Purpose, Peace, and Promise

Remember the day you graduated from college or seminary?

If you're like most people, you probably thought, "I have completed my education!"

But that's just not true, particularly for leaders. You can't lead in today's world if you think you've completed your education the day you stopped your formal time in school. Ministry requires a lifelong learning process.

Proverbs 19:8 says, "Do yourself a favor and learn all you can; then remember what you learn and you will prosper" (GNT). Continual growth and learning are the best ways to care for yourself as a leader. If you're not learning, you're not leading. Scientists say that around our mid-30s, we often stop acquiring new skills. When was the last time you learned something new? It's disheartening to see leaders who stopped learning years ago and have since grown dull.

Being a Christian leader means embracing a lifelong learning process. The term "disciple" literally means "learner." Jesus said, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me" (Matthew 11:29 NIV). Our job as leaders is to be disciple-makers. We can’t do that if we’re unwilling to keep learning.

Developing a lifetime pattern of learning is all about attitude. Lifetime learners look at life differently than others. If you want to stay mentally sharp for a lifetime, you need three key attitudes.

1. Openness: “Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge” (Proverbs 18:18 NLT). It's easy to drift into a closed mind as we age. Years ago, I ran across this list of "excuses for a closed mind." If you regularly repeat some of these phrases, you probably need to work on being more open.

— We tried that before.
— Our place is different.
— It costs too much.
— We don't have the time.
— We've never done it that way before.
— That's not our problem.
— You're right, but . . .
— We're not ready for that.
— It isn't in the budget.
— You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
— Let's form a committee.
— It's impossible.
— We've always done it that way.

Growing leaders simply don't think like that. They are always on the lookout for new ideas. And they can learn from anyone—younger leaders, older leaders, non-leaders, educated leaders, and uneducated leaders.

Be open to saying, "I can learn from anybody, any place, any time." That kind of attitude will help you prepare for any challenge you'll face in ministry.

2. Humility: "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom" (Proverbs 11:2 NIV). To be a mentally sharp leader, you need to humbly acknowledge that you don't know everything.

If you think you've got it all together and can't learn anything more, you'll struggle to grow. Pride is a stumbling block to learning.

Winston Churchill once said, "I love to learn, but I hate to be taught." We all struggle with ego, and we must learn to keep it in check if we want to grow.

When my son Joshua was young, his favorite question was always, "Why?" Children learn so much because they're not afraid to ask questions. They are humble and inquisitive. Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3 NIV).

Too often, leaders avoid asking questions because they are afraid they'll appear ignorant. But asking questions actually has the opposite effect. To grow, maintain an attitude of humility. Accept that you don't know everything and be willing to learn.

3. Enthusiasm: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters" (Colossians 3:23 NIV). Think back to the classes you learned the most from in high school. They likely were the ones you were most enthusiastic about.

Enthusiasm accelerates learning. When you wake up each day, ask God to teach you something new. Be eager to learn from life's experiences.

As a leader, you need to be a lifelong learner if you want to be all that God has called you to become. Develop attitudes of openness, humility, and enthusiasm, and you will never stop learning.

Recent Articles

Five Ways to Worship When You’re Wounded

Everyone gets wounded. Even pastors.Sometimes it’s physical. Other times, it’s emotional, spiritual, or relational. And if you’re not experiencing a wound right now, one is probably on the horizon.So how do you respond when life hurts? You worship.That may seem counterintuitive. But worship is the only antidote to pain that brings both healing and hope.Job is one of the best examples in the Bible of how to worship when you’re hurting. In a single day, he lost everything—his wealth, his health, and even his children. The book of Job tells the story of a man deeply wounded but ultimately unshaken in his devotion to God.Here are five ways to worship when you’re wounded:1. Grieve: Tell God how you feel.Worship doesn’t always start with a smile; it often begins with tears.Job didn’t hold back: “Job stood up, tore his robe in grief, and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground and worshiped” (Job 1:20 GW).In the ancient Middle East, people expressed grief by tearing their clothes. God isn’t afraid of your raw emotions. In fact, he welcomes them. When you pour out your hurt, you’re not being unspiritual—you’re worshiping.Don’t bottle up your pain. God didn’t design your body to store negative emotions. Let them out. Confess them to God. He can handle your honesty.2. Praise God—not for your problems, but in the midst of them.Job’s story boils down to one question: Will I worship God when everything goes wrong?It’s easy to praise God when life is good. But what about when it’s not? That’s the real test of faith.Life is rarely all good or all bad. It’s more like two parallel tracks—one of joy and one of sorrow—running side by side. Even in our darkest moments, there’s still something to thank God for. Job chose to praise God in the middle of his suffering. You can, too.3. Ask God for wisdom and strength.Pain makes it hard to think clearly. Wounds distort our perspective. That’s why we need God’s help to see straight and stay strong.The Message paraphrase says, “True wisdom and real power belong to God; from him we learn how to live, and also what to live for” (Job 12:13).Wisdom gives you direction. Strength gives you endurance. Both come from God. The BIble promises, “The LORD saves good people; he is their strength in times of trouble” (Psalm 37:39 NCV).God may not remove your pain, but he will supply what you need to keep going.4. Gather with others for support.God didn’t create you to worship alone—especially when you’re hurting.The natural tendency when we’re wounded is to withdraw. We isolate. We put up walls. We hide. That might feel safer, but it only prolongs the pain.If you never learn how to share your pain, you’ll never heal.That’s why pastors need small groups, too. You need people in your corner who will walk with you through the valleys, not just celebrate with you on the mountaintops.Don’t wait until the crisis to build those relationships. Find a group where you can be real, be known, and be supported.5. Keep going.Perseverance is a form of worship.Job’s wife told him to curse God and die. But Job refused. Instead, he said, “Though he [God] slay me, yet will I trust him” (Job 13:15 KJV).That’s radical faith. That’s worship in its truest form.What gave Job that kind of confidence? He knew his Redeemer lived: “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth” (Job 19:25 NIV).Whatever you’re going through, it won’t last forever. Eternity is coming. Your Redeemer is alive. And one day, he will make all things new.Pastor, don’t let your pain rob you of worship. Don’t let it derail your ministry.

What to Do When You Feel Like Giving Up

Pastor, the mission God has given you isn’t easy. Ministry is filled with delayed answers, slow progress, and seasons that test your endurance. When you’re discouraged, your vision blurs. That's why learning to resist discouragement is absolutely essential for finishing the race God has set before you.Discouragement may feel like it just happens to you—but it’s more than a feeling. It’s a choice. And with God’s help, you can choose a different path. Here are five truths to help you keep moving forward in faith, even when your situation feels unfair.1. Discouragement is one of Satan’s greatest tools.If Satan can’t get you to procrastinate on your mission, he’ll try to get you to quit altogether. Discouragement neutralizes leaders. It’s the opposite of faith. When you say, “It can’t be done,” you’re no longer trusting what God has already said he will do.Galatians 6:9 says: “Let’s not get tired of doing what is good” (Galatians 6:9 NLT). That’s hard sometimes, because the right thing is rarely the easy thing. But that’s the kind of perseverance that God honors and uses.2. Discouragement is always a choice.It might not feel like it, but you can choose what you focus on. Will you focus on your problems or your purpose? On your weakness or God’s power?You can’t always control what happens around you, but you can control what you think about. Discouragement begins with discouraging thoughts—and those thoughts can be replaced.As Paul says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (NKJV). Faith starts with optimism. And that optimism isn’t naivety, but trust that God is still at work even when you don’t see it.3. Endurance turns ordinary people into great ones.Great people aren’t born—they’re shaped through persistence. Think about a sculptor chiseling stone. The first strike of the hammer doesn’t reveal a masterpiece. It takes repeated effort. That’s how God shapes your life too—slowly, steadily, through faithful steps of obedience.Nothing worthwhile ever comes easy. You need spiritual endurance to keep going when you feel like giving up. When you feel like quitting, remember this: You’re not a failure until you quit.4. God’s delays are not his denials.Maybe you’re praying for something and it still hasn’t happened. That doesn’t mean God has said no—it might just mean “not yet.”In the Living BIble paraphrase, Habakkuk 2:3 says, “These things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!”At Saddleback, we waited 13 years without a building of our own. But God had a better plan—one that wasn’t even visible when we started. That’s true for your ministry, too. Be patient. God is never late.5. God tests your patience to grow your faith.Spiritual maturity means learning the difference between a “no” and a “not yet.” God doesn’t test you so he can learn something new—he tests you so you can learn something new. He wants to reveal your commitment and his faithfulness in the process.You won’t be tested just once. You’ll be tested over and over again—not to discourage you, but to build endurance in you. And you can take it. Why? Because God is with you. He will strengthen you.Don’t give up!You may feel like you’re at the end of your rope. But you’re not alone. God is with you—and he’s not finished with you.Don’t drop out of the race. Keep pressing forward. Resist discouragement and finish what God called you to do.

You’re Not Alone: Jesus Meets You in the Monday Fatigue

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”  (Philippians 4:7 CSB).“When it was evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’” (John 20:19 CSB).Pastor, do you ever wake up on a Monday feeling like you’ve got nothing left to give?Maybe you poured yourself into yesterday—preaching, praying, shepherding, listening, encouraging, planning—and now you’re empty. Worn out. Maybe even wondering if what you gave made any difference at all.You’re not alone.The disciples knew what that felt like. After Jesus' crucifixion, they gathered in a locked room—defeated, discouraged, and scared. They weren’t strategizing or stepping into bold faith. They were hiding.But then Jesus showed up.He didn’t knock. He didn’t wait for them to get it together. He came right through the locked doors and stood in the middle of their fear. His first words? “Peace be with you” (John 20:19 CSB).Not shame.Not correction.Not disappointment.Just peace.Jesus didn’t say, “Where were you when I needed you?” He didn’t give them a lecture. He gave them himself.And he does the same for you, pastor.He’s not waiting for you to be stronger. He’s not disappointed in your weariness. He’s already with you, ready to refill what ministry has poured out. His peace isn’t a feeling—it’s a presence. And it’s for you, right now.The Bible promises, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”  (Philippians 4:7 CSB).So take a deep breath today. Rest in this truth: Jesus hasn’t left you. He’s with you—behind the locked doors, in the Monday fatigue, in the questions and in the quiet.You are not alone.Jesus came to his disciples when they were at their lowest. He’ll come to you, too. He already has.May his peace fill you again this week, and may you minister from the overflow of his presence.

Use Your Pain to Help Others This Christmas

The Christmas season can be one of the most painful periods of the year for many people. Sure, it’s full of joy and celebration, but it’s also full of heartache.It can be tough, even for pastors. If you lost someone this year, that empty space at the table will look much bigger during this season. Or painful Christmas experiences from your past may still linger and weigh you down.Add that to all the busyness of the Christmas season in our churches, and you’re not alone if you find ministry particularly tough this time of year.But never forget—God never wastes a hurt. God will often turn your deepest struggles, even during the Christmas season, into profound opportunities to serve and help others who are struggling.But you’ll have to be open and honest about that pain—and that’s tough.Paul regularly turned pain in his life into ministry opportunities. He once wrote, “[God] comforts us when we are in trouble, so that we can share that same comfort with others in trouble” (2 Corinthians 1:4 CEV).God has a purpose for our pain. It trains us for ministry in a way seminary or Bible college simply can’t.You have congregants hurting right now. Some people you shepherd have lost a spouse or a child this year. This Christmas they’ll have a person missing from the holiday table. It’ll be the toughest Christmas of their life. And they may never open up about this experience to anyone. Others are facing their first Christmas sober. It’s taking every bit of strength they have to avoid their drug of choice.Pastor, God can use your struggles to bring them hope—whether that’s through your preaching, sitting with someone at the hospital, or sharing a cup of coffee.But you must be open and honest, even when it’s scary. Your authenticity encourages the people you lead to be open and honest about their own struggles.Here are some ways you can let God use your pain to help others this Christmas.Share how God got your attention through pain. Pain is often a wakeup call. C.S. Lewis once said, “God whispers to us in our pleasure, but he shouts to us in our pain.” Pain is God’s megaphone. The parable of the prodigal son shows us this. Everything was going great in the prodigal son’s life until suddenly they weren’t. The Bible says when pain came, the prodigal son “came to his senses” (Luke 15:17 CEV).I’m guessing you’ve had times in your past when you came to your senses after experiencing pain. When you share those experiences, you help people’s eyes to be opened to what God is trying to say to them. Share what God taught you with the pain.Pain is one of the best teachers. God uses it to help us grow up in our faith. Our pain teaches us to depend upon God, to trust his Word, and to see how much we need others.In Psalm 119, David describes how God used pain to help him trust and obey God’s Word. He writes, “I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word” (Psalm 119:67 NLT). You have people in your church who need to hear that story from your life. They need to know what God taught you in those dark days— because they need to apply those lessons to their own lives.Share how God brought good out of your pain.God brings good out of pain all the time, but you rarely can see it while you’re in the middle of the pain. But once you realize it, this new perspective will change everything.As much as anyone who ever lived, Paul realized that not every situation he faced had a happy ending on this side of eternity. He knew pain and loneliness in his ministry (2 Corinthians 11:24-28), but he also knew God used his suffering for good. People came to faith in Jesus because of his time in prison (Philippians 1:12). In Romans 8:28, he writes from experience, “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (NLT).Again, you usually can’t see this while you’re in the middle of the painful season, but you can from the other side.Be ready to talk about how God has brought good out of your pain. If you experienced that Christmas season when you were out of money, describe to those you’re shepherding what it was like when God met your needs. Show them what you learned about God during those lonely seasons of your life. They need to hear how God showed up in your pain. Share how Jesus gave you hope in the middle of your pain.When people are in pain, they need hope to cope. Whether that pain is in their family, their finances, their work, or somewhere else, they need to know they won’t be alone.God never promises us a life free of pain. But he does promise to always be there for us. We never have to go through pain by ourselves.That’s the hope of the gospel. More people will be open to hearing the hope of the gospel during this season than at any other time of the year.When you meet people in pain this Christmas, help them see how the baby in the manger became the crucified Lord who gives us hope in our pain. We’ve all been through painful seasons in our lives. Don’t waste that pain. Let it help others this Christmas season.