Pete Scazzero’s book The Emotionally Healthy Leader and his ministry, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, have shaped and rebuilt numerous church leaders across America.
His newest book, Emotionally Healthy Leader is a practical and rich book the digs into the heart, the motivations, the history, and the inner life of the reader.
On the 5 Leadership Questions podcast we heard time and agin from leaders we interviewed that Pete’s book was impacting them dramatically and that we ought to have Pete on with us. So we did, and it was a wonderful conversation.
Here are 12 of the best quotes from his book (and a few bonus quotes from our podcast conversation with him as well):
Spiritual Deficits typically reveal themselves in too much activity. Unhealthy leaders engage in more activities than their combined spiritual, physical, and emotional reserves can sustain. They give out for God more than they receive from Him.
Your shadow is the accumulation of untamed emotions, less-than-pure motives and thoughts that, while largely unconscious, strongly influence and shape your behaviors.
My word to singles is this: Don’t live like you’re waiting. Live the most fulfilled, joyful life you can now.
Whenever we find ourselves wanting the ministry impact of Jesus while simultaneously resisting spending time with Jesus, we are positioning ourselves for a beating.
The tendency to blindly seek more opportunities for God has destroyed many a leader whose good intentions lacked a strong foundation in and with God.
[Many leaders] are terrified of what they will find inside themselves if they slow down . . . the terror of stopping reveals their emptiness.
On the Sabbath we embrace our limits.
God is not in a rush. He often moves more slowly than the timetable I have for my goals. In fact, I often discover He has different goals.
If you’re not concerned that your heart might become hard, it already is.
Limits are often God’s gift in disguise.
Minimally transformed leaders will always result in minimally transformed teams doing minimally transformed ministry.
Nothing takes place without an ending.
Who you are is more important than what you do.
Very often we’re stuck going forward because of stuff in the past we don’t want to look at.
Limits are a gift and an obstacle.
Marrieds need singles; singles need marrieds.
Great success in your early years is potentially a disaster for young leaders because you don’t have the inner life to support it.
You learn by failure; you don’t learn by successes.
Barnabas Piper serves on the leadership team at Lifeway, and is the author of several books, including The Pastor’s Kid, and Help My Unbelief.
