Leading from a Healthy Soul :: Mindy Caliguire at GroupLife Conf

Today at Palm Valley Church, we've gathered about 80 of our Home Team (small group) leaders to tap in to Willow Creek's GroupLife Conference via satellite. We figured it would be nearly impossible to get 80+ key leaders all the way to Chicago. However, we could get Chicago (conference) to Mission, Texas.

The following is one of the first sessions, Leading from a Healthy Soul by Mindy Caliguire , founder of SoulCare Ministry.

Matthew 16:26

"For what profit is it to a man
if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?"

The most essential key for a leader is to lead from a “healthy soul”…

I once thought that the most important skills for leading a small group included things like good listening skills, knowledge of Bible, welcoming people, willingness to guide people, communication skills, measure of spiritual maturity, etc.

Those things are important, but today my answer about most important qualification for small group leaders has changed. One quality that a leader must have if the group is going to be effective in transformation. The leader must be leading from a healthy soul.

What is a healthy soul?
Saved and alive. It has been brought to life. Whether you realize it or not, your soul has the capacity to have a quality of life. It requires nourishment.

Do you know yourself? There was a symptom that indicated that my soul was not well and I ignored it. I went through a season where I had become totally out of touch with the woman God had created me to be. Because I ignored that, I was sidelined from my own life and ministry for a season. In hindsight, this was a way God was dealing with my heart...saying it's not so much what you do for me but who you are with me.

We must recover the importance of the redeemed soul.

Following Christ should not result in a diminishing interior life, but sometimes the demands of leadership results in that.

Symptoms of Neglected Soul

• Apathy
• Judgemental spirit
• Insomnia
• Anger
• Fear
• Isolation

Symptoms of Healthy Soul

• Joy
• Confidence joined with Humility
• Safety
• Purpose
• Energy
• Attentiveness

Are pace of life and healthy soul indirectly proportionally? Mutually exclusive?

We should allow the health of our soul to guide the pace that we keep. Allow your pace of life to be submitted to how God is leading you. We may need to do make some radical changes in our schedule. Biblical simplicity: God is our focus and we allow everything else to emerge from that relationship.