Leadership Tips & Training Finishing Well!

My husband has often said, "Most people begin well, but few finish well!" It is easy to be excited about any project in the beginning, but as time goes by, our interest wanes and so does our motivation. Sadly, we often end projects either in a less than excellent manner, or sometimes we simply quit before they are completely finished. I have a closet full of unfinished craft projects, so I am a testimony of someone who has not finished well in the past. However, I am learning what it takes to daily work toward finishing well. I have the joy and honor of knowing and observing the lives of some dear senior saints, who are on their way to finishing well the path God has marked out for them. As I observe them, I see at least three common characteristics they all share. These qualities are found in the Acrostic E-N-D to help you remember how to end well.

Experience God daily in life.
    Those who finish well are those who maintain a consistent personal and vital relationship with Christ. A sweet dear saint in my First Place class is finishing her life experiencing a vital relationship with Christ. She comes each week with her Bible study done and with a testimony of what God has taught her that very week. She is not living spiritually in the past, but is living daily in God's presence with a teachable and attentive heart. Isaiah 43:18-19 says, "Do not call to mind the former things. . . Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it." God is doing something new every day and the leader who lasts is the one who is ever looking to see and listening to hear what new thing God is wanting to do in their life.

Nurture people all through life.
    For over 20 years I have observed a godly couple, Gene and Irma Warr, pour their lives into others. I receive a prayer letter from these dear saints each month and I read over and over again about how they are taking people into their home and ministering to them. Gene has had the same accountability partners for well over 20 years. Irma still leads a young mom's Bible study, lovingly and tenderly teaching them the Word and how to live it out. As God has taught them, so they teach others. They live out the "Philippians 2 lifestyle" of putting others before themselves and looking out for the interests of others. The practice of nurturing others is allowing them to finish well.

Determine to obediently follow God's plan.
    To finish any project or to finish life well, one must be persistent, determined and steadfast. Giving up is simply not an option to those who finish well. The dictionary defines determined as being firmly resolved. The leader who finishes well has made up their mind to complete the task set before them, no matter what obstacles or conflicts may arise. When I enrolled in college, I was determined to finish in four years. I changed my major from accounting to education, which put a little dent in my plans. However, because I determined before I ever started that I would finish, I did finish, even though it was in four and a half years instead of four. You see, God gives us a task and if we determine to complete the task, He is faithful to complete it in and through us, but not always on our timetable or in our way. Proverbs 16:9 says, "The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." God can complete much in the person whose mind and heart are determined or firmly resolved to live out the life He has given them.

Are you a leader who is struggling? Have you considered not leading any longer? Be encouraged—do not give up, but finish well! Begin again today to daily experience God, nurturing others along the way and determined to not give up on the task God has given you.

Nancy Taylor
Leadership Training Director



Nancy Taylor is the First Place Leadership Training Director and joined the First Place staff in 1997. Nancy teaches leadership principles to First Place Leaders throughout the country and at Houston's First Baptist Church where she coordinates all the First Place groups. Nancy also speaks at First Place workshops, rallies, retreats, and conferences, where she delights her audiences with humor and encourages them with boldness. She writes a monthly article, which includes helpful tips for leaders, for the First Place E-newsletter, and was a contributing writer to the Today is the First Day devotional book. Nancy is the resident First Place Bible Concordance because of her love for Scripture memory.