Lag and lead measures

August 04, 2021

Devotions, Blog

I learned two terms recently: lag measures and lead measures.

Lag and lead measures are concepts businesses pay attention to. Christians pay attention to them, too.

Lag measures

In a business setting, lag measures are the records of how well a company performed. The number of lost time accidents, the amount of product produced, and the quarterly earnings are examples.

Businesses need to track these statistics in order to determine if they have made progress toward corporate goals.

But lag measures only detail what has taken place. They record history. Because these actions have already happened, no one can change them. For that reason, lag measures are not useful for changing the future course of a business.

Lead Measures

To change future outcomes, businesses focus on lead measures. These are things a business can control. For example, businesses can implement lead programs that will keep their employees safe. Safe employees generate more production. Increased production raises quarterly earnings.

Successful businesses focus on the things they can change (lead measures) rather than on the things they can't change (lag measures).

Successful Christians do the same.

Paul’s focus on lead measures

Listen to the Apostle Paul as he talks about his attempts to live for Christ. "Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it yet, but there is one thing I do: Forgetting the things that are behind and straining toward the things that are ahead, I press on toward the goal, for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-15).

Paul understood the lag measures of his walk with Jesus. (Read Romans 7:18-19.) But he also understood that continuously beating himself up over his failures would not provide a way to move beyond his failures to a life that better glorifies God.

Now don't misunderstand. Paul acknowledged the sin in his life and repented of those sins. (Go back to Romans 7:18,19 to see an example. Then add verse 24.)

But Paul moved on from repentance. He "forgot" the sins in his past. He chose to focus on lead measures, on the actions he could take that would enable him to "press on toward the goal, for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Christian, your lag measures will only show you where you failed. They won't help you move ahead toward more godly living. To "strain toward the things that are ahead," focus on what is ahead.

Focus on a life thoroughly cleansed of sin because of Jesus.
Focus on the eternal life that awaits you.
Focus on the good news of God's grace that he writes about on every page of the Bible.
Focus on the ways you desire to bring him glory.
Focus on your lead measures.