Years ago, I attended a conference in California for youth leaders which was led by Doug Fields, a youth pastor & writer. It was amazing. I took a ton of notes and learned a lot of things, but I also began to sense there was no way I would ever get it together like these guys teaching us. They seemed so smart, so organized, so “with it” that I could never be as effective as them.
One evening during that conference, Doug Fields invited a limited number of conference attenders to his house for ice-cream after hours. I found myself sitting in his living room, eating his food, and just talking with him. It gave me a chance to see that the people we see “on stage” are really pretty normal & just like us most of the time. They even like ice-cream.
I read a devotion that Doug had written for his students about jealousy based on the story of Cain & Abel in Genesis 4. Here’s what he wrote to his students. It also applied to me, as a youth leader. This lesson has stayed with me all of these years, and it helped me stop comparing myself to others. I hope it will help you do the same. He wrote…
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Seek Grow Love 