Leadership in the church is a high privilege and a great responsibility. The church belongs to Jesus Christ. He purchased it with His precious blood. If you aspire to be a leader, the Bible says you aspire to a noble task.

Leaders in the church can do great good. They can also do great harm. That’s why Paul urges Timothy, a young leader in the church, to watch his life closely (1 Timothy 4:16).

In this foundational module for every Christian who wants to lead others, Pastor Colin Smith explains what it means to watch your life and how you can do it.

This course is part of the Open the Bible for Leaders training platform and is used with permission. Visit OpentheBible.org/leaders to enroll in more free practical ministry training courses to help you watch your life and doctrine closely.

The sin of Christian leaders can wreak havoc in the church. What’s why we must watch our lives closely by intentionally pursuing godliness. In this session, Pastor Colin Smith shares the what, the how, and the when for growing in godliness.

1. Why is godliness especially important for Christian leaders?
2. Jerry Bridges says that a fear of God, a love for God, and a desire for God compose godliness. Why is each part essential? Which do you most lack?
3. 1 Timothy 4:12 mentions five practical expressions of godliness (speech, conduct, love, faith, moral purity). Which area do you need to grow in the most, and why?
4. Read 1 Timothy 3:1–13, the classic text on qualifications for Christian leaders. What does it tell us about the importance of godliness? What does it tell us about the importance of skills?
5. What does being proactive in pursuing godliness look like practically? How can you be more proactive in your pursuit of godliness?
6. How would you encourage another believer who is discouraged about his or her pursuit of godliness?

• Praise God for His holiness! Praise God for giving you everything you need for life and godliness!
• Confess your sin and lack of example in speech, conduct, faith, love, and moral purity. Ask for His help in revealing areas in which you need to grow.
• Thank God for His grace in your life and the forward progress you have made in godliness.
• Ask God for help and wisdom in actively pursuing godliness for His glory. Ask for a greater fear of Him, love for Him, and desire for Him.

It would be easy to think that the Bible is simply a book of information about God and life, and that we need to read it in order to know what to believe and how to behave. That’s true, but the Bible is so much more than information. It brings transformation. For a leader to thrive, bear fruit, and persevere for a lifetime of ministry, a leader needs to regularly feed themselves on Christ by meditating on the Word of God.

1. What are your habits in reading the Bible? What has proved helpful to you? What struggles do you have?
2. What is the difference between merely reading Scripture and ‘feeding on Christ’? Why is the distinction important?
3. What are the effects of feeding on Christ? What effects do you most want more of?
4. What is your biggest hindrance in feeding on Christ? What steps might you take to overcome this challenge?
5. Read Psalm 1:1–3 and reflect how love for God’s Word (or lack thereof) influences our ministry.
6. What is the connection between feeding on Christ and prayer? How might this connection encourage your pursuit of God?

• Praise God for the life-giving and soul-nourishing effects of His Word!
• Confess if you have not treasured God’s Word as you’d like.
• Thank God for the riches of His Word and how He has grown you through it.
• Ask God to deepen your hunger for His Word and for Spirit-led discipline to abide in His Word.

Christian leaders can do nothing without the help of God, and thus need to be men and women of prayer. In this session, Pastor Colin helps us see how the Holy Spirit uses the Scriptures to form and direct our prayers.

1. What does your practice of prayer look like? In what way do you most want to grow?
2. Explain how each member of the Trinity helps you pray.
3. Which of the four parts of prayer (Worship, Confession, Thanksgiving, Intercession) do you need to grow in the most?
4. Read John 15:1–8 and notice key repetitions. How do feeding on Christ and praying in the Spirit relate to this passage? How does this passage foundational to gospel ministry?
5. Who does God call you to intercede for? How might you more intentionally pray for them?
6. Spend a few minutes meditating on Romans 5:8 and turn it into prayer using each of the four parts of prayer (Worship, Confession, Thanksgiving, Intercession).

• Praise God for the help of His Spirit in prayer! Praise God that He wants to hear from you and His other beloved children.
• Confess any weakness or lack of discipline in prayer.
• Give thanks for the Spirit-inspired riches we have in the Word of God that we can turn to prayer.
• Ask God to deepen your faith and love for Him in a way that expresses itself through praying in the Spirit.

Your commitment to God and godliness will be tested. How will you stand firm against your flesh and the schemes of the devil? By learning to fight sin and temptation. This session shares an essential strategy for fighting sin.

1. On a scale of 1-10 (1 being low, 10 being high), how would you describe your success in battling temptation? Why? In what ways would you like to grow?
2. What is a sin (or two) you need to fight right now? Ask God for grace to make progress in your fight against them.
3. Romans 8:13 says, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” What does this verse say about battling temptation, and why is it important?
4. Read Titus 2:11–14. Why is understanding grace essential to making progress in the battle against sin?
5. Did Pastor Colin share anything that was missing in your fight against sin? If so, what?
6. How does remembering that progress is possible encourage you? How might it help you the next time you’re tempted?

• Praise God for freeing you from the power of sin by the blood of Jesus!
• Confess your sin and failure to proactively fight sin.
• Thank God for His help in fighting sin in the and changing your affections through the gospel.
• Ask God for wisdom and His help in knowing, stalking, and killing sin. Ask Him for a greater love for Him and hatred for sin.

Write a one-page battle plan for fighting one sin following Pastor Colin’s teaching (Know It, Stalk It, Kill It). Include relevant Scripture passages.

In an age where discouragement abounds and unbelief is celebrated, “the righteous will live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). In this session, Pastor Colin will encourage you to exercise your faith and persevere when it is challenged.

1. What has tested your faith in the past? How did you move forward?
2. Reflect on this quote from Charles Bridges. “All our failures may be ultimately traced to a defect in faith. We ask but for little, we expect but little, we are satisfied with little; and therefore we gain and do but little. The main difficulty, therefore, is not in our work, but in ourselves; in the conflict with our own unbelief.”  How have you seen this proved true?
3. Which of the seven situations in which your faith will be challenged can you relate to the most?
4. If you have had major battles for faith, what has helped you persevere through seasons of darkness? If not, what will you do in the future?
5. When are you tempted to think faith is automatic, not manual? Why is that distinction so helpful?
6. What are the circumstances in your life and ministry where you need to exercise faith today?

• Praise God for granting you saving faith.
• Confess your weakness and lack of faith.
• Thank God for all of His grace to both sustain and nourish faith.
• Ask God for a growing faith that will remain steadfast through trial and for God to prepare you to live by faith in future trials.

“What’s God’s will for my life? What career, spouse, or ministry does God want for me?” If you’ve ever asked these questions, you don’t want to miss this final session where Pastor Colin teaches how to test and discern God’s will for our lives.

1. What are specific areas of your life in which you need to discern God’s will? (It could be in ministerial gifting, a relationship, a job, where to live, etc.)
2. How would you rate your past discerning of God’s will? What were your greatest challenges, and what provided the most clarity?
3. Pastor Colin shared three ways we talk about God’s will. Why is it important to differentiate them?
4. Were any of the seven tests (Experience, Need, Opportunity, Circumstances, Counsel, Desire, and Gift) new to you? Did any encourage you or challenge you? Explain.
5. Examining our desires are one way, not the only way, we can discern God’s will. How can we tell if our desires are sinful or not?
6. The New Testament includes gifts of serving, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, showing mercy, faith, evangelism, pastor/teacher, and more. What gifts do you think God has given you? How can you use those gifts for God’s glory?

• Praise God for revealing Himself and much of His will to us!

• Confess how helpless you are to discern God’s will without His help and your failure to perfectly discern what He wants of you.

• Thank God for providing His Word, His people, and the tests Pastor Colin shared to discern His will!

• Ask God to grow your discernment skills and for Him to continually lead you to bear more fruit for Him.