Are People Depending On You?

“The world can get along without you. Part of life is understanding that you don’t want people to be dependent on you.” -Rick Warren

This is a huge lesson I am learning. The older I get and the more I grow, the less I want people dependent on me and the more dependent I want people to be on God.

Photo Credit: CCWM.Net

Being a young leader, it’s easy for me to want people to be dependent on me. I want to pray with everyone, counsel everyone, and for everyone to think I have all the answers. The reality is, I don’t have all the answers, I can’t counsel everyone, I can’t be there for everyone every second of the day, I can’t spend the same amount of time with every person I know, and I’m imperfect!

That is the danger in us becoming dependent on others or others becoming dependent on us. We’ll eventually get disappointed because we’re dependent on imperfect people.

Think about the people you look up to in your life. Have you been more dependent on them than you are God? What if they fail or disappoint you? Will your relationship with God crumble?

People can and will eventually let you down or disappoint you, but God will never fail you or disappoint you! God is everywhere all the time! He is your ever-present help in time of need!

Our goal should be to move people  from dependence on us to dependence on God.

Don’t get me wrong, if we’re doing what God has called us to do, people will be looking to us to inspire, motivate, and equip them to live the lives God has called them to live, but we need to get them dependent on God and not ourselves as soon as we possibly can.

The greatest thing I can do for someone is help them develop to the point where they are totally dependent on God for everything in their lives.

This also works in leadership, the greatest thing I can do for my team is develop them to the point where they can lead without me.

“The world can get along without you. Part of life is understanding that you don’t want people to be dependent on you.” -Rick Warren

Have you allowed and enjoyed people being dependent on you more than you should?

Are you intentionally helping people grow to the point where they are not dependent on you, but on God?

Are you developing your leadership team to lead without you?

Thoughts?

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