7 Deadly Sins of Women in Leadership by Kate Coleman

Author:Kate Coleman [Coleman, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2021-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

God Knows When to Stop!

We depart from God’s intentions for our lives not only as we fall short (sin) but also as we transgress (i.e., exceed a limit or boundary by going beyond what God intended). Nowhere is this latter tendency more evident than in our work-life rhythms.

Genesis 2:2–3 informs us that “by the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” In other words, God is not a workaholic! God created the world in six “days” and then rested on the seventh, not because he was tired but as an example that we should follow. Unlike God, we are created with an inbuilt need to rest and re-create.

We are commanded to work but not in a way that results in the relational and spiritual neglect of those we are called to care for. In the Old Testament, the message was very clear and all encompassing: “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:9–11).

Women in leadership are notorious for doing the work of others, working without a break, overworking, and putting the needs of others before our own. Because we don’t want to be perceived as selfish, we often carry burdens meant for others and continue working when we should stop. We are used to ignoring our greatest and only asset, ourselves! We forget that we will not be given another life to lead. Our challenge is to steward the one we already have to the best of our ability, and in this we can only reap what we sow.

Work requires physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual energy. We cannot expect to keep making withdrawals from these reserves unless we are also prepared to make deposits; otherwise an overdraft or bankruptcy (burnout) becomes a very real danger. When we keep spending this energy without consideration for how we will re-create it, we sentence ourselves to a life of deficit. We must challenge this tendency in ourselves, because such an approach to life constantly falls short relationally, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically. Mark Greene writes, “Today we need to set aside the frantic drive to put every day, every minute, to profitable use, to meet our agenda and to slake our thirst for the security we think we can find in constant activity.”19 We are never encouraged to sacrifice our families on the altar of workaholic addiction.

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