12/10/2025
John Calvin once wrote, âWhomsoever the Lord has adopted and deemed worthy of His fellowship ought to prepare themselves for a hard, toilsome, and unquiet life, crammed with many and various kinds of evil.â
John G. Lake declared, âChristianity did not go into the world apologizing. It went to slay the powers of darkness, undo the works of the devil, and lived in holy triumph.â
And D. L. Moody warned us, âHave you ever passed through the furnace and been taught by the Spirit of God that your natural gifts go for naught unless you have the fire of heaven in your soul? You canât go on heavenly missions without heavenly fire.â
These are not soft words. They are foundation stones that every person should grasp before stepping into any level of leadership or ministry within the church.
I think back to my own days in Bible college and the conversations I heardâstudents talking about the âfree scheduleâ of ministry or the âprofitâ they believed it would bring. Iâd smile, pat them on the back, and keep moving. Growing up a preacherâs kid in a home where my parents planted a church from scratch, I learned lessons that Sunday attendance will never teach. Ministry is not theoryâit is trench warfare.
Out of the dozens of people I trained with in Bible school, only one is still serving in full-time ministry today. Statistics confirm this reality: seven out of ten ministers never make it to the ten-year mark. Most quit long before the race is finished. And this is why Scripture exhorts us, âEndure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christâ (2 Timothy 2).
Here is something leadership will teach you quickly:
When people value what you give, they will leave the moment they believe theyâve taken what they want.
When people value you, they stay.
Time reveals what words hide. Watch how people act when they walk awayâthat is how they felt all along, even if their mouths deny it. Roots donât lie. So let them go, and let your heart stay in peace. If they were meant to remain, they would have valued you, not what you could produce for them.
Family will often endure hardship with you. Not because itâs easy, but because they value you as bloodâyour personhood, not your benefits. And outside of family, the same principle stands: those who truly value you will walk through the fire with you. Those who donâtâLET. THEM. WALK.
No offense. No bitterness. No retaliation.
Just release them⌠and keep running your race with those who prove by actionânot wordsâthat they are called to walk beside you.