I recently read an article entitled “12 Practices of Highly Successful Pastors Who Love People.” WAIT! DON’T LEAVE YET! It made some good points. One quote it used was:

The best thing about ministry is the people. The worst thing about the ministry is the people. Unknown

I would almost have to concur. Because ministry is full of people-the good, the bad, and the ugly-it will always be at their whim. I shouldn’t say always. The man who longs for peoples’ approval will be shot/shot at often. The man who chooses to follow God’s leading will be shot/shot at but has something different: protection.

I also realize most…almost all…of my readers are not pastors. So I thought I would take a few of the practices and apply them to the “everyday Joe” who does their thing on a daily basis.

1. You can’t fake it. You either love people or you don’t. They will know it. So will you.

2. You will pray for people early and often. None of this “I’ll pray for you” and then not. While I fall down in this area way too often, there is a young lady visiting in Canada right now whom I promised to pray for every day. There is a friend visiting relatives in San Diego who is prayed for every day.

3. You look for opportunities to serve. We are trying to harvest a culture of service here.

4. You give people hope. Not false hope, but real hope. Don’t be all gloom and doom.

5. You are accessible. It isn’t easy being someone who loves/cares, but it is worth it.

There are more, but I don’t want this to go too long. I’d like to encourage you to read the original article and draw your own conclusions. And by the way, don’t be fooled by what you have always termed “successful.” Our view is sometimes skewed.

Can you add any practices to this list? Which one did like the most (from this one or the original)?