In his book The Spiritual Man, Watchman Nee points out, “The enemy well knows how we need our mind to attend the spirit so that we may walk by the spirit. Thus he frequently induces us to overuse it that it may be rendered unfit to function normally and hence be powerless to reinforce the spirit in time of weakness.”

The popular way of putting that today is, “If Satan can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.” But Nee points to an even more significant truth, which is: Satan will use our busyness to help us slowly become bad. As we drift from the leading of the Spirit, we leave ourselves increasingly open to things that aren’t of God.

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We make things so much about our work and our accomplishments, as if we’re somehow made superior by them. But Jesus calls us to a different work: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matt 16:24). It is a challenge so difficult that only one man has ever done it entirely successfully. And He is the one who calls us to it.

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Spiritual leadership that isn’t leading others closer to God isn’t spiritual leadership at all.