Pre-Order Pete Scazzero's forthcoming book, Emotionally Healthy Success, at www.emotionallyhealthy.org/success and get a free chapter.
What if you could succeed brilliantly at something God never asked you to do? Is it possible to succeed at the wrong thing?
I spent a good part of my ministry answering yes to that question without knowing it. I built something big at New Life Fellowship while becoming increasingly unhealthy. The numbers were up. My joy was down. It took a church split and two years I never would have chosen for me to face what I'd been avoiding: who am I when I can't prove I'm successful by the world's standards?
This episode opens a seven-part series walking through the book Emotionally Healthy Success, three and a half years in the making. I'll tell you the story that forced me to ask what success actually looks like to God, and why I think this question is one you're already living with every time you set a priority or lead a team.
If you've built something that looks impressive while quietly wondering if it's the wrong thing, this one's for you. Listen in.
If you're ready to go deeper with the ideas shared on this podcast, the School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership is your next step. It's where leaders slow down, do the inner work, and come out equipped to lead from health instead of hurry. Learn more and apply for the upcoming Fall semester at emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool.
Learn more about the 2026 FALL SEMESTER School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool/
Pre-Order Pete Scazzero's forthcoming book, Emotionally Healthy Success, at www.emotionallyhealthy.org/success and get a free chapter.
For my first seventeen years in ministry, I led for Jesus without listening to him. My prayer life was mostly a list of requests. When a door opened, I walked through it and called it faithfulness, following my best ideas and telling myself it was discernment.
In this episode, I walk through the third of four reversals from my new book: the move from our best ideas to discerning God's voice. Even Peter, James, and John struggled here. Peter watched Jesus transfigured on the mountain and responded with a plan: let's build three shelters. God interrupted him mid-sentence. "Listen to him." Not "help him." Not "build for him." Listen.
If you've ever assumed your best idea for God was from God, this episode will show you a better way. Discernment isn't a bonus skill for the spiritually elite. It's the difference between leading for Jesus and actually listening to him.
If you're ready to go deeper with the ideas shared on this podcast, the School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership is your next step. It's where leaders slow down, do the inner work, and come out equipped to lead from health instead of hurry. Learn more and apply for the upcoming Fall semester at emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool.
Learn more about the 2026 FALL SEMESTER School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool/
Pre-Order Pete Scazzero's forthcoming book, Emotionally Healthy Success at www.emotionallyhealthy.org/success
For most of my early ministry, I led from my gifts. Teaching, vision-casting, faith, I had those in abundance, and little else. So I built my leadership on them, hid my weaknesses, and made sure no one saw me struggle. Then a painful church split exposed the whole thing. I spiraled into a two-year depression before I hit rock bottom, and found Jesus waiting for me there.
In this episode, I walk through the second of four reversals from my new book: the move from charisma to weakness and limits. Jesus was born to a peasant girl, lived thirty ordinary years, and refused the power offered him in the desert. Paul, facing leaders with every credential he lacked, chose to boast in his weakness instead. "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."
If you've been measuring your ministry by the world's scorecard- gifts, platform, impact- this episode will show you a better one. Weakness isn't a hindrance to what God wants to do through you. It's the doorway.
If you're ready to go deeper with the ideas shared on this podcast, the School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership is your next step. It's where leaders slow down, do the inner work, and come out equipped to lead from health instead of hurry. Learn more and apply for the upcoming Fall semester at emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool.
Learn more about the 2026 FALL SEMESTER School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool/
