God's love. I would like to be told to keep looking after my wife

17.3. How not to become a victim You need to cultivate a safe way of thinking in advance, which we are now, presumably, and are doing. Everyday life is rich in excesses, which are often indirectly influenced by our absent-mindedness, hindsight and frivolity. To

Many began to ask me the question: how to become a pastor? This is both a difficult and simple question at the same time. But I consider the pastoral calling not only the highest calling in the Church, but also the most difficult. I remember one saying on this subject: Being a pastor is just wonderful, great, amazing. This is the best calling in the world. If not for one “but” that spoils everything, these are people. If it wasn't for the people."

Therefore, I decided to write this post for those who are considering becoming a pastor. I do it on the one hand to support, and on the other, in order to sober up. I think that service should be approached with common sense and understanding of what you are doing. Although! If I knew what awaits me on this path, then, most likely, I would refuse ...

Don't rush to start

This is my signature piece of advice for almost any occasion. Never rush. I am sure that with haste, mistakes cannot be avoided. Time will always be on your side if you don't push it. It is worth understanding and accepting the fact that everything happens in its own time.

When we hurry, we do it for two reasons. Firstly, it is disbelief that this is actually your calling, and we are afraid to miss the chance to take a position. And, secondly, it is the fear that someone else can take this place. This is also unbelief. If your calling is from God, then no one will take your place, and no one except God will remove you from it. And if He takes you down, then only to call you into something more.

Take your time, let God prepare you.

Talk to your pastor

If you do not have a pastor and you are a person outside the church, then you can forget about pastoring, because this, like any ministry, is a relay race. Someone has to send you. If there is no one to send you to, then, first of all, it is worth finding such a minister.

Talking to a pastor is important because one of his callings is to see your calling and help you realize it. He prays for you and sees whether you are a pastor by your calling, whether you have the heart of a pastor, whether you are ready for such a ministry.

Just ask him if he sees you as a pastor? And listen to his words as words given by the Holy Spirit. This will help you. He will give you advice that will help you realize your calling or stop you from making mistakes.

But before that, it is worth asking the question: what is it like to be a pastor? What was the reason for his decision to become a pastor? What is the hardest thing? What happened? What would he change? What would you not do? And would he become a pastor if he knew what he knows today? Trust that the answers will help you understand the true essence of pastoral ministry and make the right decision.

Talk to the pastor of another church

Talk to at least one more pastor. One person's opinion, whether positive or negative, cannot be objective. The experience of one is the experience of one. The opinion of a few can create a trend and show the true picture. It would be good to be guided by this principle in everything.

Also, a pastor who is not interested in you may turn out to be both less engaged and biased, and less competent. Both will help him see in you what the one who is nearby cannot see. It's like a painting worth looking at from a distance.

Talk to your wife or fiancee

The wife, even the future one, plays an important role in the pastoral ministry. How much she will support you will determine the entire course of the ministry. If she does not become an assistant, then you will not cope.

Therefore, it is necessary to enlist her support. Talk to her. Does she see herself as a pastor's wife? Tell her what awaits her, without embellishing and without letting in darkness. That is why the conversation with the pastor must take place before this.

Give her time to think. Women are emotional, and even if the first reaction is hysteria, it will pass, and your spouse will start to think. She will come to you when she thinks. Don't rush her. And, if she is not ready to support you, then you should not rush to start.

Talk to friends

Friends know us very well. We spend a lot of time with them and experienced various situations with them. Therefore, their opinion can be very useful to you.

Tell them about your desire, plans and dreams. Let them laugh at you. They will definitely think. Perhaps their words will be harsh, but if they are real friends, then they will tell the truth. Moreover, if you endure criticism from friends, then you are ready to overcome the criticism that will come into your life as soon as you become a pastor.

Ask for their support at your start. Friends who want to help you start the ministry are a very important help. And let them initially say that they will not stay with you forever or simply promise to pray. It's already a lot.

Start by taking responsibility for one person

Scripture teaches us that he who is faithful in little things will be set over much. I think that no one will prevent you from taking responsibility for some person.

Start praying for one of those people around you. For a neighbor, an unbelieving friend, a teacher, a boss, a colleague, and so on. Start praying for him every day. Start testifying to him. Lead him to Christ, show him the path he must follow. Start to instruct him, teach him to pray, read the Scriptures, understand the will of God and fulfill it.

In fact, this is the pastoral ministry. I am sure that the pastor is not the head of the church, but the father. And fatherhood always starts with one child. True, there are twins, but rarely.
Responsibility for one and the difficulties you face will definitely sober you up. But, if after that you are still able to desire pastoral ministry, then you can move on.

Work on character

Pastoral work is one of the most dangerous. This is an area of ​​constant temptation. The pressure is in all areas of life. And while most stumble over power, sex, and money, these are not the only sins that attack ministers.

The anointing will not keep you from falling. Literacy will not help to avoid sin. The only thing you need to be safe is true Biblical values ​​fused into your character.

And it is worth taking care of this before you begin to serve. Do not think that you can solve problems as they arise. It's a delusion. It is best to be aware of the approaching enemy and be prepared for the encounter.

Identify your weaknesses and start praying for them. Ask friends and ministers to pray for this. Look for ways to get rid of bad or simply unnecessary habits. Instill useful and necessary. Don't waste your time and energy on this. This will save your calling.

Find your true motivation

Think carefully about why you want to become a pastor? What drives you? Perhaps you wanted a more important or higher position in the Church? Or power? Perhaps you want to prove to your opponents that you are worth something?

Wrong motivation can and will lead to wrong decisions and ruin your life. And in the case of pastoral ministry, not only yours, but also those who will follow you. Responsibility for other people should make us very careful.

What can be the right motivation? Love for God, for people, for the Church. Desire to please and glorify the Lord. Fulfillment of revelation and thirst for movement for the Holy Spirit. Perhaps this is not all, but, in my opinion, love is still the main motive.

Check your calling

Often we understand or see our calling dimly, not clearly, seeing only what we are called to serve, and we ourselves think out where and how. Don't be afraid to look insecure, especially if you are. Ask God questions. Go to the anointed ones for advice, whose calling is obvious and they serve in it.

At this stage, I highly recommend fasting and solitary prayer. Nobody should interfere. You, God and Scripture. Everything heard, digested and understood or not understood must be given to God and wait for an answer. Look for an answer. A mistake can be fatal and very costly. Therefore, it is worth being persistent and persistent.

If you are confident in your calling, having received it directly from God, then you will never give up and reach the goal. If you leave a little doubt, then it will spread to all areas of service, and eventually destroy it.

Deal with problems

Perhaps you have unfinished business, unpaid debts, or tails of broken promises. Someone may have a broken relationship or problematic consequences.
Before you "take up the plow", it is worth resolving them to the maximum. I know from experience how it can subsequently "catch up" at the most inopportune time. Yes, and spending time on this when you are loaded with service does not work out very well, and problems grow, multiply, threatening to bury you under them.

Find a mentor and be accountable

An unaccountable minister is a ticking time bomb. It will tear not only the Church, but also you. Therefore, it is worth striving to avoid this by all means.

We are usually accountable to those who sent us. This position is harmonious and natural. Don't try to strive for independence. If for some reason there is no mentor, then it is worth finding one.

Accountability is full openness in all areas. You don't just choose a person to pay tithing to, but someone who will tell you "no" and you will be obedient even if you don't like him or think he's wrong.

He will correct you, discipline you, and he will be the one who will shoot you if you sin. And he will help you to rise, solve problems and see reality.

Gather a team

One person has never done anything worthwhile. Even Noah did not do it alone when he built the ark. His sons helped him. A pastor without a team is also unable to cope with the super-task of founding and building the Church.

For many pastors, that team is their family. But it is best to choose people who not only share your vision and understanding, but also have the necessary set of gifts and talents.

It would be good for a person with a guitar, if he himself is not able to play music at first. Not bad for something that will help with preaching and working with people. Just look at your weaknesses and find people who will make up for your shortcomings.

Subscribe:

If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, gather a team.

Being a pastor is hard work and requires full dedication. It's like getting married - once and for all.

In this article you will learn how to become a priest. The Kiev priest Grigory Kryzhanovsky told Pravmir about this. Read!

Petya jumped with a parachute, but Vasya did not jump, and Petya tells Vasya how great it is. But Vasya looks at Petya and thinks: you can break all the bones like that, and it happens!

Why quit a great job? Why work at a construction site with a higher education?

By the way, you don't have to change jobs. Wash the dishes, as before, but you can wash them and feel happiness. I discovered in my 30s that I don't like washing dishes, but love splashing in warm water. All my life I thought that I liked washing dishes, but my wife rebuked me.

It takes a lot of courage to admit it to yourself. You seem to look good, but in reality you like pleasure. You do good deeds - and you yourself love praise and attention.

In a large family, you need to compete for parental attention. You have to put your shoes on a shelf, make your bed, and for this they tell you that you are good - and you are the same as everyone else, although you realize this at 30.

No matter how good you are, no matter how many years you have been in the Church, over time you will know that you are the same as the rest, like believers and unbelievers, in terms of your distance from God. And God is everywhere and always, and the question is whether you let Him into you.

The feeling that Petya experienced while skydiving - how to convey it? The word grows thin, ceases to be weighty. Divine services, hymns, temple construction, murals, all this splendor is an attempt, an attempt.

Madness, deeds - that's what really strikes people. Someone's example convinces them that they need to change. And God changes a person. How and when this happens is a mystery. For someone during life, for someone right before death, at the moment of death or after it - but the Lord will give to everyone who asks.

It takes courage to be a believer. This is not just a ritual: go there, go here, light a candle, take a blessing. If a person really, beyond strength, seeks God, who is merciful, forgiving, giving grace and energy - this is a brave person, he decides to live forever. This is a serious decision and responsibility.

I grew up in a closed large family with little contact with the world. For example, I did not know for a long time that there is such a thing as divorce. I had many uncles and aunts throughout the Union, we saw each other regularly, and everyone had full-fledged families. And already at school I learned that it happens like this: a boy without a dad, but not because his dad died.

My father and mother did not confess Jesus Christ, they were materialists, good people of Soviet views. They didn't say to be kind, they were just kind to us. And kindness is even more important than decency.

I graduated from the physics and mathematics class with a gold medal, in 1995 I entered the KPI. I decided to study to be a programmer. I thought about law school, but did not go, because court cases repulsed me.

When, in my second year, a department head hired me to work in an organization associated with the Ministry of Justice, I worked there for a year and a half as a computer systems engineer and realized that I did not want to be a lawyer for moral and ethical reasons. In addition, the work of the programmer was more creative.

Then I worked for five years at Golden Telecom, working in the financial department with database and accounting systems. Here, over time, I became interested not in the applied aspect of programming, but in the aspect of database architecture development, systems analysis.

When I moved to Foxtrot, a completely Ukrainian company, I noticed a difference in mentality. Golden Telecom was a half American company, which means different approaches and principles. The most important thing here is the skills of a specialist. In a foreign company, you understand that the Minister of Economy cannot become the Minister of Health. A corporate spirit reigns here, you yourself value the opportunity to earn above all else.

In a Ukrainian company, you must be, first of all, a person - a cool guy, a friend, a countryman, in general, your own. Narrow specialization is not so important here: having worked in domestic business, you already fully admit that the Minister of Economy can become both the Minister of Internal Affairs and Health. Here they recruit a team rather than specialists.

Simultaneously with work, I studied at the hospital. My boss was a workaholic, from him I learned patience, the ability to surpass myself - when you can no longer, but still work.

After Foxtrot, he worked for a year at MTS. During that period, I spent a lot of time on my hobby: psychology, introspection, worldview concepts. These are apparently inborn tendencies: my older brother became a psychiatrist.

At the same time, I began to be interested in Christianity - after I got into the hands of Alexander Men's book "The Son of Man." I was no longer interested in making money. While I was helping my parents to support the family, it was important, but now the children have grown up, the elders are arranging their lives, the younger ones have finished school, I was no longer needed as a breadwinner and could devote more time to myself.

I planned my family life. I had a sad experience with a girl - I liked her, but I did not marry her. I was in search, constantly thinking how to become happy. A person often associates happiness with something external. The present is not enough for him, he needs guarantees for the future, and he is extremely tormented by this.

At some point, I realized that I don’t like disappointments, I’m afraid of them. If I live to 70 and only then will I know the truth, it will mean that my whole life was a mistake. And I thought with youthful maximalism: it is better to know this truth tomorrow.

For some reason I remember this moment - it happened at night, about 2 o'clock. I liked to stay up late, look at the burning windows of high-rise buildings around: these are thousands and thousands of different destinies, which I don’t think about until I sit by the window. Happiness, unhappiness, everything is seething, or already sleeping, or already gone.

And I say to myself - why is this all? And at this moment I decide that for the truth I could pay the dearest - with my life. I made this decision and forgot about it, but my life from that moment began to change dramatically.

I started reading books about the soul, God - and once again changed jobs, moving to Philip Morris. It is a manufacturer of tobacco products. Now I changed jobs not in connection with earnings - I'm more interested in the team, relationships with people.

And the brother begins to go to the temple. I was a provocateur, I liked to scare, laugh at a person, and now I’m probably the same, I just got into the habit of doing it softer, so that it would be in favor, rather laugh at myself. So, my brother tells me about Jesus Christ, and I answer him: “Was there a boy?” He was very upset with me then.

So, when my boss returned from maternity leave to work at Philip Morris, I said that I was fed up with this smoking, that I was quitting. I went nowhere, went to live in the country.

It was a period when everything came naturally. It was difficult for me before. By this time I already fast, I live on the balcony for half a year, I sleep on the rug - such ascetic practices I had - and I go to the temple, to St. Cyril's Church.

Those around me were frightened by my behavior. Mom was told: "your son is crazy, but it's okay, you have five more normal children." Classmates - all capable mathematicians, materialists - shook their heads, saying that a person was missing.

I re-read the darkness of literature. Particularly struck by the book of Anthony Surozhsky "Man before God." I entered into a state of conversation with the author when I ask a question - and find the answer on the next page. I understand that this person is preaching to me. By this time, I was already in my second year of the evening catechetical school at the parish of St. Catherine on the street. Polupanov.

One and zero - what could be less? We know that zero can be approached from the right and from the left. What can you see when you can't see anything? Nothing, but you can feel. When you're sitting on a tricky math problem, you need insight. When you are looking for God, you can read the wisest mentor, sensei, guru a thousand times and you will not understand anything.

I had a moment of insight when I became an active parishioner. Fighting for my ideals, I fail. If before I aspired to worldly success, now this failure was my success. In what sense? My mother consoled me, and I told her: everything is the will of God. And she: do you really believe that?

And then I realize that this is just a familiar phrase. I do not know the will of God, I do not know God, and His will interests me only when it is combined with mine. It was a moment of horror: God forbid that God's will be for everything!

It was my insight, a new turning point in my life. All my dreams are starting to come true. I begin to feel God, to seek Him, to run after Him. After reading books and the lives of the saints, I begin to look for God's people in the Church and outside it - meetings, fellowship, disappointments ... To experience and see miracles is terrible in its own way, because they will end at some point, and you will have to pay for them, as and for all happiness.

In the church, I became familiar to people as a diligent parishioner thanks to some of my qualities instilled in childhood. My aunt once said: so, maybe you will become a priest? And then someone else: let's get ordained, you will serve the liturgy for the children.

For the first time, when I heard this, I was shattered: after all, I am a distant, unworthy person. And then the circle narrowed, and the time came when I prayed: “Lord, I want this. And you, Lord, do you want this? Let me know". A prayer of thanksgiving appeared not only for what I have, but for what You are, Lord. I am insignificant, and the mercy of God is immeasurable. It is this feeling of gratitude that gives one the courage to ask, “What do You want, Lord?” In the phone call I was told "Axios!"

Although I did not have a job, I constantly found one for myself. I'm a workaholic - I just love to work. This is a model of behavior: it is impossible not to work in a large family, parents have never been idle.

At that moment, I rebuild the house, turning the dacha into a solid dwelling. I earn money in transportation and construction. I dreamed of a private house, a family - and now it all appeared: both the house and the woman who accepted my proposal. In the same year I enter the seminary, for which I take the blessing of my wife - she was exactly the person thanks to whom I, cowardly, decided.

By the time I was ordained, my relatives and their parents had already become church people, they all found in the Church a solution to their problems, which in principle are unsolvable in the world.

This year we celebrated the 9th anniversary of the community of the deaf at the Ioninsky Monastery. The deaf are, in fact, foreigners who are not able to learn our language. And only we can learn their language and help them.

Who doesn't want to learn the language of the deaf as a child? I lived in Vinogradar, not far from boarding school No. 6. You think: that would be great - and you forget about it. And when I entered the third grade of the seminary and they began to teach us sign language, it turned out that I was capable of it.

As a deacon, I was asked to come to Ioninsky, where services were held with the help of an interpreter. The deaf looked at me and decided: “This is the future father! We need him to learn - we need him." After all, there are things that a person wants to discuss with a priest directly, without an interpreter.

In general, I realized that this is an opportunity to serve people. And not ordinary, but deprived and at the same time the people of God, who fulfilled the commandment of God "be like children." They are active, trusting, open - but in their own environment.

Language is a cultural factor, so it is a separate nation. Sign language forms a national minority in the territory. In Europe, this is already formally spelled out. A foreigner is born in an ordinary family! If the parents do not learn the language of their child, the child will find people of his “nation” and will not fully return to the family.

Before the revolution, the Church had a translation of liturgical texts into sign language. There were almshouses and parochial schools for the deaf in St. Petersburg. In Kyiv, a priest also began to teach the deaf. He had two deaf daughters and had enough money to send one of them to school. She, having returned, taught her sister and father, and he began to teach children.

The revolution interrupted this undertaking, like many others. It got even worse when Stalin spoke in the sense that the deaf are inferior, and their language is also a manifestation of inferiority. Then the deaf were forbidden to communicate in their language, they were forced to keep their hands in their pockets. The tradition of liturgy for the deaf was completely lost, and only in the 1990s did the Orthodox Church in Kyiv begin translating.

Difficulties arose with the translation of some theological terms and texts, those in which the doctrine of Christ is concentrated - I had to start from scratch in many respects, creating gestures denoting these concepts.

Now almost all liturgical texts have been translated. After all, when a language is developed and there is a dictionary, the rest is a matter of technology. A video dictionary of sign language for liturgical terms has been created. We have collected all the accumulated and disseminate information.

Now is the age of rapid information development. God gives revelation to people, and they use it for good or for evil. Mobile phones - they seem to have been specially invented for the deaf so that they can dial text messages. The Internet is also for them.

There are a lot of us - 20 people at the service, and only about 60. Now we have six to eight translators - more than in the Minsk and St. Petersburg communities, which are older than us. Recently we have been to Lutsk, Chisinau, Moscow region, Zhytomyr, we are going to Kherson.

What are we preaching? There are already believers there. Only that it is possible and necessary to translate the service. We need to embrace these people. God has chosen them, and we can help to ensure that their faith is realized in a wide and full participation in the liturgy.

There is nothing special, special in my priestly service in this community. Only knowledge of sign language. Feelings, emotions, everyday questions of these people are the same as ours. The worship service itself, of course, has its own specifics. First, the translator must be a believer. Know the service, understand the content and meaning of prayers, dramaturgy. He must have feelings!

If I were deaf, a purely technical, unemotional translation would not suit me. I would like my brother or sister to translate, for example. Divine service flows, there are visible and audible parts of it. And the audible needs to be translated into the visual. Thus, the “video sequence” in the service for the deaf is more intense. And since this “channel” is overloaded, it is impossible to “throw” too much into it.

The father should speak simply, not abstrusely. The translator needs discreet, non-distracting clothing, the priest needs a trimmed mustache. I got lucky with my mustache.

Magazine "To the Right", No. 1, 2014

Many began to ask me the question: how to become a pastor? This is both a difficult and simple question at the same time. But I consider the pastoral calling not only the highest calling in the Church, but also the most difficult. I remember one saying on this subject: Being a pastor is just wonderful, great, amazing. This is the best calling in the world. If not for one “but” that spoils everything, these are people. If it wasn't for the people."

Therefore, I decided to write this post for those who are considering becoming a pastor. I do it on the one hand to support, and on the other, in order to sober up. I think that service should be approached with common sense and understanding of what you are doing. Although! If I knew what awaits me on this path, then, most likely, I would refuse ...

Don't rush to start

This is my signature piece of advice for almost any occasion. Never rush. I am sure that with haste, mistakes cannot be avoided. Time will always be on your side if you don't push it. It is worth understanding and accepting the fact that everything happens in its own time.

When we hurry, we do it for two reasons. Firstly, it is disbelief that this is actually your calling, and we are afraid to miss the chance to take a position. And, secondly, it is the fear that someone else can take this place. This is also unbelief. If your calling is from God, then no one will take your place, and no one except God will remove you from it. And if He takes you down, then only to call you into something more.

Take your time, let God prepare you.

Talk to your pastor

If you do not have a pastor and you are a person outside the church, then you can forget about pastoring, because this, like any ministry, is a relay race. Someone has to send you. If there is no one to send you to, then, first of all, it is worth finding such a minister.

Talking to a pastor is important because one of his callings is to see your calling and help you realize it. He prays for you and sees whether you are a pastor by your calling, whether you have the heart of a pastor, whether you are ready for such a ministry.

Just ask him if he sees you as a pastor? And listen to his words as words given by the Holy Spirit. This will help you. He will give you advice that will help you realize your calling or stop you from making mistakes.

But before that, it is worth asking the question: what is it like to be a pastor? What was the reason for his decision to become a pastor? What is the hardest thing? What happened? What would he change? What would you not do? And would he become a pastor if he knew what he knows today? Trust that the answers will help you understand the true essence of pastoral ministry and make the right decision.

Talk to the pastor of another church

Talk to at least one more pastor. One person's opinion, whether positive or negative, cannot be objective. The experience of one is the experience of one. The opinion of a few can create a trend and show the true picture. It would be good to be guided by this principle in everything.

Also, a pastor who is not interested in you may turn out to be both less engaged and biased, and less competent. Both will help him see in you what the one who is nearby cannot see. It's like a painting worth looking at from a distance.

Talk to your wife or fiancee

The wife, even the future one, plays an important role in the pastoral ministry. How much she will support you will determine the entire course of the ministry. If she does not become an assistant, then you will not cope.

Therefore, it is necessary to enlist her support. Talk to her. Does she see herself as a pastor's wife? Tell her what awaits her, without embellishing and without letting in darkness. That is why the conversation with the pastor must take place before this.

Give her time to think. Women are emotional, and even if the first reaction is hysteria, it will pass, and your spouse will start to think. She will come to you when she thinks. Don't rush her. And, if she is not ready to support you, then you should not rush to start.

Talk to friends

Friends know us very well. We spend a lot of time with them and experienced various situations with them. Therefore, their opinion can be very useful to you.

Tell them about your desire, plans and dreams. Let them laugh at you. They will definitely think. Perhaps their words will be harsh, but if they are real friends, then they will tell the truth. Moreover, if you endure criticism from friends, then you are ready to overcome the criticism that will come into your life as soon as you become a pastor.

Ask for their support at your start. Friends who want to help you start the ministry are a very important help. And let them initially say that they will not stay with you forever or simply promise to pray. It's already a lot.

Start by taking responsibility for one person

Scripture teaches us that he who is faithful in little things will be set over much. I think that no one will prevent you from taking responsibility for some person.

Start praying for one of those people around you. For a neighbor, an unbelieving friend, a teacher, a boss, a colleague, and so on. Start praying for him every day. Start testifying to him. Lead him to Christ, show him the path he must follow. Start to instruct him, teach him to pray, read the Scriptures, understand the will of God and fulfill it.

In fact, this is the pastoral ministry. I am sure that the pastor is not the head of the church, but the father. And fatherhood always starts with one child. True, there are twins, but rarely. Responsibility for one and the difficulties you face will definitely sober you up. But, if after that you are still able to desire pastoral ministry, then you can move on.

Work on character

Pastoral work is one of the most dangerous. This is an area of ​​constant temptation. The pressure is in all areas of life. And while most stumble over power, sex, and money, these are not the only sins that attack ministers.

The anointing will not keep you from falling. Literacy will not help to avoid sin. The only thing you need to be safe is true Biblical values ​​fused into your character.

And it is worth taking care of this before you begin to serve. Do not think that you can solve problems as they arise. It's a delusion. It is best to be aware of the approaching enemy and be prepared for the encounter.

Identify your weaknesses and start praying for them. Ask friends and ministers to pray for this. Look for ways to get rid of bad or simply unnecessary habits. Instill useful and necessary. Don't waste your time and energy on this. This will save your calling.

Find your true motivation

Think carefully about why you want to become a pastor? What drives you? Perhaps you wanted a more important or higher position in the Church? Or power? Perhaps you want to prove to your opponents that you are worth something?

Wrong motivation can and will lead to wrong decisions and ruin your life. And in the case of pastoral ministry, not only yours, but also those who will follow you. Responsibility for other people should make us very careful.

What can be the right motivation? Love for God, for people, for the Church. Desire to please and glorify the Lord. Fulfillment of revelation and thirst for movement for the Holy Spirit. Perhaps this is not all, but, in my opinion, love is still the main motive.

Check your calling

Often we understand or see our calling dimly, not clearly, seeing only what we are called to serve, and we ourselves think out where and how. Don't be afraid to look insecure, especially if you are. Ask God questions. Go to the anointed ones for advice, whose calling is obvious and they serve in it.

At this stage, I highly recommend fasting and solitary prayer. Nobody should interfere. You, God and Scripture. Everything heard, digested and understood or not understood must be given to God and wait for an answer. Look for an answer. A mistake can be fatal and very costly. Therefore, it is worth being persistent and persistent.

If you are confident in your calling, having received it directly from God, then you will never give up and reach the goal. If you leave a little doubt, then it will spread to all areas of service, and eventually destroy it.

Deal with problems

Perhaps you have unfinished business, unpaid debts, or tails of broken promises. Someone may have a broken relationship or problematic consequences. Before you "take up the plow", it is worth resolving them to the maximum. I know from experience how it can subsequently "catch up" at the most inopportune time. Yes, and spending time on this when you are loaded with service does not work out very well, and problems grow, multiply, threatening to bury you under them.

Find a mentor and be accountable

An unaccountable servant is a ticking time bomb. It will tear not only the Church, but also you. Therefore, it is worth striving to avoid this by all means.

We are usually accountable to those who sent us. This position is harmonious and natural. Don't try to strive for independence. If for some reason there is no mentor, then it is worth finding one.

Accountability is full openness in all areas. You don't just choose a person to pay tithing to, but someone who will tell you "no" and you will be obedient even if you don't like him or think he's wrong.

He will correct you, discipline you, and he will be the one who will shoot you if you sin. And he will help you to rise, solve problems and see reality.

Gather a team

One person has never done anything worthwhile. Even Noah did not do it alone when he built the ark. His sons helped him. A pastor without a team is also unable to cope with the super-task of founding and building the Church.

For many pastors, that team is their family. But it is best to choose people who not only share your vision and understanding, but also have the necessary set of gifts and talents.

It would be good for a person with a guitar, if he himself is not able to play music at first. Not bad for something that will help with preaching and working with people. Just look at your weaknesses and find people who will make up for your shortcomings.

If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, gather a team.

Being a pastor is hard work and requires full dedication. It's like getting married - once and for all.