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Think about every relationship you have for a minute.

Are you always humble and gentle? Do you make allowance for their faults? A pretty tall calling? Not my words. Being always humble and gentle is a life worthy of our calling. Let’s not make any excuses with talk of personality difference. The more like Jesus I am, the more patient I will be, making allowance for the faults of others.

God’s grace and love never reaches a human-like limit. The depth of His compassion is always deeper than my depravity. The expanse of His faithfulness always has more reach than my faithlessness. His patience with my failings far exceeds any understanding of love I can fathom.

I have been to my share of conferences about how to be effective in ministry. I’ve read my share of books that propose how to grow organizations. I have attended my share of seminars and courses that talk about how to have an ever-increasing impact. All all of these have been valuable.

However, these four verses, if lived out, is what will cause us to have the greatest possible impact. 

Our effectiveness and impact as a leader is directly tied to our ability to experience empathy. Whether your leadership is in your home, your place of work, your church, your peers, or anywhere… you will only be able to inspire and influence to the degree that we can feel what other people feel. And while empathy comes easier to some than others, I am also convinced that empathy can be learned. But nothing is learned if it’s not valued.