“The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching” (1 Timothy 5:17).

October is pastor appreciation month, dubbed so in 1994 by Focus on the Family to promote a specific time for the Church to financially support their ministry. Pastors have the challenging and often thankless job of shepherding the flock. It’s not 9-5 by any means. More often, it’s 24/7, with calls in the middle of the night, work on the weekends, and being in the nitty-gritty of people’s pain and grief.

At the same time, “They are expected to have ideal families, to be perfect people, to always be available, to never be down and to have all the answers we need to keep our own lives stable and moving forward. Those are unrealistic expectations to place on anyone.” (Celebrating Pastor Appreciation Month)

We’ve got about a week left in October. I encourage you to express your appreciation to your pastor for what he is giving daily and weekly. But don’t limit it to this month. Pray for him ongoingly. Come alongside him in service. And give thanks to God for the man willing to shepherd the flock, knowing he is imperfect and in need of God’s grace to complete the task to which he’s been called!

“Respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work” (1 Thess. 5:12-13).

Resources:

Check out this throwback and The Nickel Prayer Defense video of Mike Young, showing us a simple way to pray for our pastors.

12 Resources for Pastor Appreciation, Support & Awareness | Noble Warriors