I hope you had a wonderful day on Sunday celebrating Easter and our Risen Lord with your loved ones! Every Easter people celebrate with meals and family get-togethers. Many gather with the largest church crowds they’ve seen all year; others join small groups to rejoice quietly in places where gathering is life threatening.

I feel challenged to not allow the resurrection of our Lord be a one Sunday event, but instead allow the truth to truly impact and affect my life on a daily basis.

Here are six steps Servant Leaders might take this week as we focus on Easter and live out its truths.

1. Spend some time in prayer meditating on your purpose.I never get over the great feeling when I see a leader understand their true purpose, and that serving is leading. When I look at how much time Jesus spent focusing on his purpose to proclaim truth, deliver on his Father’s will, and save all of mankind, it reinvigorates me to stay in tune to my purpose and do everything I can to help people to lead at a “higher” level, to enable them to make a significant impact on the world. Take time this week to read the narratives of Jesus’ death and resurrection in the gospels. Meditate on them. Rejoice in the victory. Because of the resurrection, what we do really does matter.

2. Reach out to someone who has seemingly lost hope and build his or her energy.They are all around us, frankly. Hurting. Alone. Wounded. Hiding . . . and hopeless. Find one of these people, and be a model of resurrection hope this week. Take somebody to lunch. Let them know how important their work is. Offer a prayer. Encourage them and be that light to the resurrection promise.

3. Serve with renewed vigor and build your performance. If you’ve lost your passion for the people you serve, let the truths of the resurrection sink in. God is not dead. The days seemingly in the tomb only make the day of resurrection that much brighter – and that day will Even if you think you’re the only person in your organization that is serving, serve with resurrection steam. You might be pleasantly surprised by the response of your people.

4. Give somebody a second chance by offering forgiveness and building a relationship.This can be a hard one. Often times when we are hurt it is hard to forgive. I suspect if we dwell upon the pain that Jesus took for us, we can more easily forgive someone who has hurt us. Give somebody that chance this Easter season. Getting in the habit of forgiveness will enhance your relationships and expand your level of influence.

5. Model servant leadership clearly and concisely.The Easter season provides the perfect platform to model and talk about servant leadership. Jesus was so focused on the greater good of others, as opposed to himself. Our job is to live and communicate that leading is serving others. So, think hard this week, and be very intentional about modeling servant leadership in a way that everyone can understand. Our responsibility is to point all people of all ages to the resurrected Lord, as he is the perfect model of leadership. There is no better way to do this than illustrating that through your actions.

6. Let God surprise you.Even though we know the end of the story, it is still a wonderful feeling to bask in the wonder of the resurrection. It reminds us that God operates outside of our understanding. He is not limited to our boundaries. Allow yourself to be in tune to the divine appointments and situations that he puts you in this week, and capitalize on them. Then thank God for all he has done for you!

Servant leaders, let the resurrected Lord surprise you with His glory this week and every week thereafter. He is risen indeed!

Mark

 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’  Luke 24:6-7