Jefferson Furtado

Standing at the threshold of a new year, we often feel pressured to plan, perfect, and resolve. Yet Scripture offers a different posture. The Apostle Paul admits, “It’s not that I have already reached this goal or have already been perfected.” Faith, he reminds us, is not about arrival but becoming. We press on not by sheer resolve, but by grace—because Christ has already taken hold of us, and God is not finished with us yet.

The birth of Christ reminds us that the story of Christmas is indeed a story of love, hope, and faith. Love between God and humanity. Hope that a wounded and weary world can still be restored.

I began my professional career at sixteen, serving as the IT manager for a university campus in Rio de Janeiro. Surrounded by people far older and more experienced than I was, I quickly learned that leadership was not about control or having all the answers. What mattered most was presence—showing up, listening, learning, and helping others succeed. Long before I could name it, I was discovering that true leadership is less about authority and more about cultivating trust.