You have to give up(sacrifice) to go up...

1. ti.i., . :- i.
f he Holy Spirit led lesus out into the wilderness right after His baptism by lohn, reminding us that at least
l;-;i#;';p,"ii",ro,*i".i5trycameftomu*ild"'n"''experience.
, , Does this sound familiar? Quality Laders can almost atways point to a wilderness ixperience as part of
j,their
leadership preparation. During this time, our motives get purified, our backbone solidifies' alq oqr call-
ing ges ciarified
, 1f,e devil tempted tesus for 40 days in the wilderness-a scre6ning process to see what lesus would give
up and how He would trust God to piovide. ln his book, tn the Name of lesut Henry Nouwen reminds us that
the three temptations of lesus conespond to thlee temptations leaders face today: i .
L. The temptation to be self-sufficient (w. 2-4)
.: tesus didnt become controlling, even with His legitimate needs. He trusted God. t'
2. The temptation to be spectacular (w. 5-7)
lesus reiused to become a stunt man. He didnt perform in order to become a celebriry'
3. The temptation to be powerfu/ (vv- 8-10)
lesus wouldnt take a shortcut.to gain power or worship'
How do you deal with the temptations of leadership? Study lesus' method for combating these familiar
temptations of legitimate needs, gifting. and fame. lesus provides our standard for defeating temptation' He
never lost.
,)