Three Essential Characteristics of an Excellent Pastor
Pastors play many roles that range from preaching and teaching religious doctrines, to presiding over funerals and weddings. They also serve as community leaders and moral arbiters. But what qualities make a good pastor? What characteristics define an excellent one? The qualities of a superb pastor can be summarised into three principles: humility, love, and patience.
Humility
A humble pastor understands their limitations and recognises that they don’t always know the right thing to do. They put others first and value their input in decision-making processes. A humble pastor will often ask for forgiveness rather than boast about their knowledge of the scripture.
Love
Pastors need to have love as one of their qualities because it is a humanistic quality that is relevant to all people. If they don’t have love, they cannot preach the good news that Jesus tells us. The congregation need to feel loved before they can embrace the preachings.
Patience
Patience is one of the qualities that every pastor should have in their daily life. It’s vital when they are in a new ministry or just starting out in their careers. Most churches grow at a slow pace, so they should not expect a miracle growth.