Faith Walk / William Carroll
We will be talking about the word of God and how he moved in my life as I stood on his word. His signs and wonders that I have seen during the last forty years praying for my needs and the needs of others. I hope to encourage a new generation of believers to pray the word of God and to believe that He will move on their behalf. God answers prayers!
Faith Walk / William Carroll
Ep 76 To Lead Like Jesus, You Must First Serve
Ambition takes on a whole new meaning when viewed through the lens of Jesus's teachings in Matthew 20. The request seemed innocent enough—a mother asking Jesus to give her sons prestigious positions in his kingdom. But this moment reveals a profound truth about leadership that challenges everything our culture celebrates.
What does true greatness look like? In this faith-stirring discussion, we explore how Jesus flipped the script on power and authority. While the world prizes those who climb to positions where others serve them, Jesus introduced a radical alternative: "Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant." This isn't just theological theory—it's practical wisdom for our workplaces, families, and communities.
The personal testimony shared in this episode resonates with anyone who's ever been passed over for a promotion or opportunity they felt they deserved. After being overlooked seven times for advancement, maintaining a positive attitude seemed impossible. Yet through this experience came a powerful revelation: God's placement is purposeful, even when it doesn't match our ambitions. Sometimes not receiving what we want is actually divine protection from positions that would have damaged us.
This refreshing perspective offers freedom from the endless cycle of comparison, resentment, and pride that poisons so many workplaces and relationships. When we embrace service as our calling rather than status as our goal, we discover the secret to genuine fulfillment and purpose. Ready to transform your approach to leadership and ambition? This episode will challenge you to see greatness through heaven's eyes.
Good morning, welcome to Faith Walk episode. I think we're on 76 now. But this morning, as I'm sitting out here and I'm just reading through the Word and studying and praying, and I'm doing a few of these podcasts, I just want to encourage, you know, always pray. Let's pray our prayer. I pray the Faith Walk prayer. This is the Faith Walk prayer. Lord prayer. Lord, open my eyes to see as you see. Open my ears to hear as you hear. Open my heart to feel what you feel and open my mouth to speak as you speak. Lord, let my hands and my feet be your hands and feet that I might reach others. Everywhere I go, I might touch another person, father, in your name, amen, in the name of Jesus, all right. Well, listen, we've been staying in. We've been in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 20. I'm going to go home and I'm going to start.
Speaker 1:And in verse 20 it said the mother of Zebedee's sons, and and and uh, the Zebedee's sons were called the sons of thunder. Zebedee was a fisherman man. He must have had a powering voice and he must have cussed like a sailor, and anyway, they were called the sons of thunder. And the mother, their mother, came to Jesus kneeling down and asking something of him and said to him what do do you wish, he said? She said grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right hand and one on your left hand, in your kingdom. And Jesus answered and said do you not know what you ask? Are you able to drink the cup that I'm about to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I'm about to be baptized with? And they said yes, yes, we are. And he said you will indeed drink my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with, but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand. It's not mine to give you, but it is for those whom it is prepared for by my Father.
Speaker 1:And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers, and Jesus called and asked them, said you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet you shall not be so among you. But whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. Whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. Just as a son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life for ransom for many.
Speaker 1:Listen, that is the Christian walk. The Christian walk is not about loitering over somebody, you know, it's about being a servant. If you desire something in the church, if you desire to be a deacon, if you desire to be a Bible school teacher, well, you have to start out being a servant. Same Jesus said in the real world the Gentiles want to lord over you, they want to be your bosses. Look at our federal government. It wants to be our boss. Look at our state government. It wants to be our boss. It wants to tell us what we can do, what we can't do. You know, in the whole time, a lot of them are crooked as the day is long.
Speaker 1:Okay, but Jesus says, in the Christian world, being a Christian it's not about being Lord over something, lord over somebody, it's about being servant. See, the heart of Jesus was to be a servant. He came and he served the Apostles and he served the disciples and he served Israel. He served the sick, the lame, the weak. He served the disciples and he served israel. He served the sick, the lame, the weak. He served the people. He ministered to the people. He always puts their needs before his own needs.
Speaker 1:And here's this mother, and she comes and she says hey, when you get to your kingdom, she's a believer. When you get to your kingdom, let my son be on your right hand and on your left hand. He said, hey, that's not for me to decide, but my Father, which is in heaven. See, god is sitting on the throne and who's at his right hand? Jesus, it says he's right hand. Bible says Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father until God makes the hole or his footstool. Well, so they had his mother.
Speaker 1:The other ten got mad. They got mad because of the brothers. I guess they thought that they got these mothers to go and ask Jesus a request, and maybe they did. But they got mad. They got upset and Jesus said don't be upset. Don't be upset, because what y'all are doing, see, listen, we're still kind of talking about pride here. Their pride was I want to be first, I want to be sitting at your right hand, I want to be helping rule your kingdom when it comes, I want to be there, I want to be the one making decisions. And Jesus said it's not about that.
Speaker 1:See, so many times in our natural jobs we do the same thing. We think that we could run the company or run the job better than the man that's doing it. And we want the same thing. We're jealous for that. You know we covet that. You know that's a sin. We need to get out of that. We need to repent out of that. You know, if you want those good positions, learn to be a servant. Learn to serve those who you work for, learn to serve your bosses, learn to serve the other men. If you are a servant, your time will come. They will see your heart, they will see your servitude and they will promote you as God would have you promote.
Speaker 1:You know, the worst thing is getting a promotion when you didn't deserve it and when that's not the right promotion for you. Listen, I know I've been passed over when I was working and I worked for a company for 33 and a half years. And let me tell you, yes, I worked my way from the bottom all the way up. But there was many times I was passed over for promotions that I knew I knew the job, I knew I was the right choice for the job. But they chose a friend, they chose the buddy, they chose somebody else. But you know what.
Speaker 1:I never got mad at the buddy or the friend or whoever else they appointed over me. No, I didn't get mad at them. They thought I would be the one that would be mad. I had one come to me. He said I thought I would be the one that would be mad. I had one come to me. He said I thought you'd be the one I had trouble with because you could have done this job and you may should have had this job. But they gave it to me and I saw with him in that job that it was a blessing from God that I didn't get that job, because I wouldn't last long, because it was a job for a yes man. You had to be a yes man in everything. They said everything. Anything you wanted to do, you were supposed to be the supervisor, but anything you wanted to do you had to go through two other people and the two other people always said no and the two other people were not right in most cases but were wrong. And you're the one that had to. You know, discipline others because of what they said, not because of what you thought or how you felt. You know, I'm so thankful I didn't get that job. I wasn't given that job, but God always placed me where he needed me. God always placed me where I was at peace at the job. God always placed me.
Speaker 1:So I was passed over seven times. One boss said William, we're fixing to give you a raise, we're fixing to promote you. I know you've been passed over a bunch by everybody, and even I passed you over. And I said, yep, seven times. I've been passed over seven times. And he said but you hadn't lost your good attitude. And I said no, I said because you know, I said you couldn't have passed over me unless that authority was given to you by God. It's the way I see it. And listen, we need to lose our pride. We need to learn to be a servant. We need that boss that was promoted over me that I really thought I should have had the job.
Speaker 1:And the boss that left said I was going to get the job. And listen, I just served him, I went over, I just anything he needed, I would do Anything. Anytime he was having a struggle making a decision, I'd go and I would offer him my viewpoint. You know, and I never, never held it against those that were promoted over me. Listen, and maybe I'm talking to somebody today. I guess that you know you think that you should have something and you get mad and you stomp and then, well, you know what most people do if they're promoted over, most people just say, okay, well, I'll work like they work, they didn't do nothing to get that job, they were the worst worker out here and a lot of times it seems like that is exactly right the worst work.
Speaker 1:I even had a boss tell me one time. He said william, sometimes it's good to leave a guy that's doing a great job right where he at, right there, instead of promoting him and taking somebody who's not doing his job and is not working good and not doing anything and promote him. You know what I told him? I said well, that's a farce. I said if that guy can't do his job where he's at, he ought to be sent home. You ought to send him on down the road, let him get a job somewhere where he wants to be, because evidently he don't want to be here. But you're going to promote him and give him a better job over people who are working to get that job. Well, anyway, my boss said, well, he said that's just how it is sometimes. Listen, that is just how the world is sometimes, but God is faithful, god is truthful and God will promote us and he will choose us as we learn to serve others and serve him in the kingdom. God bless you. I love you Until next time.
