For those of us in ministry, we know it is a demanding and often costly pursuit and calling from the Lord. Reaching others is not for the fainthearted but takes men and women who have a hardy personality. Let’s allow these ten qualities of a hardy personality to make us men and women who are dangerous for God and better equipped to reach today’s student, family, and culture.
• They have a balanced attitude toward pain and pleasure. Pain is not an indication of death, (some thing at all cost to be avoided) anymore than pleasure is an indication of life. They are both merely part of life. The hardy person is not afraid of pain.
• The hardy person is willing to embrace deprivation. The hardy person does not insist on having all his/her needs met, they understand that “going with out” won’t kill them. They are willing to forgo gratification.
• They are not given to addictions. Hardiness does not have to have highs or shots of adrenaline in order to survive and enjoy life. They are not easily addicted to anything.
• They have a new way of looking at control. They do not demand control or abdicate responsibility when others are in control. The hardy person knows that effort counts and that they can make a difference. “I may not change everything, but I can and will do my best.”
• They understand and practice perspective. “The story does not begin or end with me. I’m in the story, but it is God’s story. I’m part of something bigger than me, and even when I don’t understand, I will trust.”
• They possess a growing self knowledge. The hardy person has an extraordinarily high level of self awareness. They are non-defensive. They know their strengths and weaknesses and are comfortable with these, so they don’t have to think about their inner needs all the time. They are free from pre-occupation with themselves.
• They are willing and able to take responsibility. They are comfortable taking credit for the good they do and willing to take the blame for the bad. They are
not blamers! They understand that wherever they are, they are making something better or worse.
• They are givers, not hoarders. They live life richly, giving out of love, energy, resources and time. They are generous, open, trusting, working, and giving.
• They have a wonderful sense of hope. Hope is their anchor to which they hold unswervingly in times of storm; it makes a daily optimistic difference in their lives.
• “I am my own bottom line.” They realize that they need to guard their own heart and nobody is going to rescue them, so they commit to developing themselves. They are not whiny, or passive. Nor are they helpless nor dependent, but interdependent.
They know and practice cultivating one’s personal life and ministry life.
source: EFCA National Ministries Update
