The Things I Wish I Knew When I Was Young

One Tuesday each month, I meet with young leaders on my staff. It’s sort of an ‘ask me anything’ time where they’re encouraged to ask me questions about life and ministry.

It’s one of the things I look forward to on my calendar the most.

We talk about things like work/life balance, handling difficult volunteers, the importance of mentors, and everything in between.

Recently, one of my staff members asked me if I would have done anything differently, looking back on my early years as a pastor.

It really got me thinking about my early years in ministry where I worked as a church planter. Most of the time I was bi-vocational (or even tri-vocational), and I was literally the only person on staff at the churches I was leading.

The truth is, I did the best I could have done with the knowledge and experience I had.

Did I make mistakes? Absolutely.

But it was all a part of my journey to where I am today.

The question got me thinking….if I could go back and give my younger self advice, what would I say?

Be yourself– Everyone else is already taken. The world needs you. So have the courage to bring your whole self to the table…your faults, quirks and kinks. But also your gifts and abilities. It’s important to seek to change the things about you that are not God-honoring, but don’t depart from who God made you to be.

Invest in your future self– Based on how you live today, do you think future-you will be in a good place? Will you be healthy physically, emotionally, relationally, financially, spiritually? Ask yourself that question as you build your life today. Are you disciplined physically and financially? Do you prioritize family and devotional time? Or maybe you need to seek counseling today so that tomorrow you is healthy. Make choices today that will set you up in the future to be healthy, balanced, and successful.

Deal with your insecurities– I wasted so much time as a young leader worrying about all the things I wasn’t, rather than focusing on who I was. I remember feeling so down about myself at times. I just want to go back in time, grab me by the shoulders and shout, “Enough! You’re doing great.” So much of life is spent battling ourselves rather than others. I wish I would have made peace with myself sooner.

Through it all, trust God– They say hindsight is 20/20…and they’re absolutely right. Looking back on decades of ministry, I can see the hand of God so clearly in my life and in ministry as a Pastor. But when I was in the midst of some challenging or scary situations, my faith wavered. Oh, I never stopped believing in God or His power. It just didn’t seem like He knew what He was doing in the situation as it unfolded. There were times when He pushed me forward into something unknown or full of resistance, or times when I was ready to charge ahead and He asked me to wait. Looking back, I now see how He was always trying to keep the church in the best position possible, even when I couldn’t see it. I’d love to tell my younger self to keep trusting, following, believing…He’s worthy of it all.