5 Ways to Reignite Your Passion for Ministry

By Raul Rivera

What do you love about being a pastor?

Suppose that you can give only one answer. This is not intended to be a trick question, and there is not one answer that is better than another answer. How would you respond?

I ask you this question because it can be simple to forget why you went into ministry in the first place. It can also be easy to forget why you do what you do. 

As a pastor, you are often pulled in many directions and your attention is required in many areas (and this is just at the church). With that being said, I will encourage and provide you with some practical steps that will help you to fall in love with ministry once again.

Reigniting your passion for ministry

1. Remember that God loves you not because of what you do, but because of who you are. 

When considering why you accepted the call to ministry, remember this: God did not create us just to serve Him, but He also created us to experience His love so that we might actively participate in sharing His love with others. 

1 John 3:1 says, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (NIV).

God did not create us just to serve Him, but He also created us to experience His love.

In ministry, it can be easy to forget that we are loved by God for who we are. We are His sons and daughters, and the love He has for the people that we serve is equal to His love for us. Just as you urge your congregants to walk in the knowledge that they are God’s beloved, it is important to remember that you are His beloved too! 

2. Get back to the basics of healthy living and stress management. 

In his book Why Pastors Quit, Pastor Bo Lane provides some very basic and powerful principles to remain healthy as a pastor. His key recommendations include using regular time off, exercising routinely, and taking time to relax. 

It is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of ministry work, but taking a break can serve several purposes:

• It helps you to maintain a healthy perspective of work. You are at your best when you are at rest in God and at peace. 
• Taking time off allows you to further develop your relationships with family members, friends, and mentors that, in turn, sustain you while in ministry. 
• Also, taking time off sets an example to your staff that it is important to do so.
• By using regular time off, your staff will have an opportunity to discover where they need to improve in their professions. 

3. Reassess and recast vision for your life on a regular basis. 

We change often. How you lead, why you lead, and the way you live will change over time. 

The sign of a healthy leader involves ongoing, personal development. If allowed, your spiritual maturity and growth can have an impact on your ministry in a great way.

The sign of a healthy leader involves ongoing, personal development.

Take stock of what you have learned from God throughout the year. Consider how this should affect the way that you live your life and lead your church. Then permit yourself to dream of how the new things that you have learned from God can be applied to strengthen where you serve as a leader. 

4. Remember that your ministry extends beyond the Sunday morning service. 

It is important to be reminded that your ministry does not begin and end in the pulpit on Sunday mornings. 

Therefore, remember that every time you smile at someone, give grace while driving, help a friend move, prefer another person in love, read a book to your children, or have dinner with a friend who has not seen you in a while, you are ministering! 

You are a minister of God’s grace because of who you are - His beloved! The fact that you get to do this means that you have one of the best jobs in the world.

It is important to be reminded that your ministry does not begin and end in the pulpit on Sunday mornings.

5. Attend a conference to rejuvenate your spirit.

Finally, I encourage you to attend a conference in order to rejuvenate your spirit. Sure, there are other ways that you can go about doing this, however, there are additional benefits that you can receive from attending a conference. Those additional benefits are as follows:

1. You can receive training specific to your needs.
2. You have the opportunity to network with other ministers and build new relationships.
3. You can be inspired with new revelations for your ministry.

(Recommended reading: “How to Work ON Your Ministry Without Attending Seminary”)

Moving forward in your calling

As you continue to move forward in your ministry, I encourage you to always remember why you answered “yes” to God’s call on your life. No one ever promised that it would always be easy, but it will always be worth it!

If you want to learn about strategies to strengthen your ministry, then I encourage you to click here and register for one of our conferences near you. If you have questions, give us a call at 877-494-4655, and one of our knowledgable staff members will be pleased to serve you!

Handpicked articles for you:

• “4 Helpful Tips on Writing Better Pastoral Reference Letters”
• “3 Ways You Can Grow in Your Calling” 
• “How to Develop Effective Leaders in Your Church”

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