This is a Q&A taken from a Session that Michael Dow spoke in for a Discipleship School in the Orlando area. It's a real and vulnerable interaction. Some of the topics that created interactions are: Grace isn’t always a feeling you wait on, it’s the strength you lean on when you decide to stick with your commitments. The idea is simple but freeing — build a history with God so you have leverage against your own excuses. Resolve matters. Daniel 1:8 didn’t need theatrics, just a determined heart. Real talk about leadership: character beats gifting every day. Purity, accountability, and managing your own house are not add-ons — they’re the proof that someone can be trusted with influence. Power doesn’t graduate you from accountability; it amplifies your need for it. So if you're called to teach or lead, study the Bible hard, pray harder, and let your life show the formation happening inside you, not just public function. Studying the Word well isn’t glamorous, but it’s necessary. Learn the author’s intent, see the Bible’s big narrative, and study to be approved — not just to feel better. You don’t have to have every degree, but get help, learn solid methods, and let study and prayer shape your teaching. Teaching without study and prayer? That’s a risk you don’t want to take. When people you love hurt you — yeah, that cuts deep. But there’s also redemptive power in suffering when the Spirit shapes you. Think Joseph, Stephen, and Jesus: what could have been purely bitter became a witness of mercy and resurrection. It takes time and the Spirit’s work, but you can choose a posture where your pain produces grace instead of hard-heartedness. On building teams and churches: don’t prioritize warm bodies or potential over proven patterns. Formation over function. Wait for people who embody the values and vision, not just those who can fill a role this weekend. Commission those who are worthy of imitation — who show growth both in wins and losses. And guard against keeping things centralized because you’re insecure; the goal is to give the work away so it multiplies. Finally — and this matters — your family and daily faithfulness are the greatest platform. If you can’t steward your home, you don’t get to be the shepherd everywhere else. Seasons change; sometimes God asks you to stay small and faithful at home before He sends you broader. Rest in that season, do the real, daily work, and trust that the right opportunities will line up with the right formation. So if you’re wrestling with feelings, failure, or calling — start with resolve, keep character first, study and pray, and let the Spirit do the deeper forming.
