An uncommitted leader is actually a danger to their team. Read Zechariah 10:1-3.

Teams take on the attitude and behavior of their leader. The Lord held the leaders among the returned exiles accountable for their treatment of the people. He says, “My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord Almighty will care for His flock…” (v. 3). Through my leadership life I have found a lot of individuals who wanted to be a leader but didn’t want to do the work of or accept the responsibility of a leader. Accepting a leadership role requires committing to leadership responsibility.

Justice flows from a leader’s Christlike attitude of serving others. Read Zechariah 7:1-14.

After returning to Israel from the Babylonian exile, the leaders wanted to know if they needed to “mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years” (v. 3). God’s answer came first in the form of a question, “When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?” The second part of God’s answer spoke directly to their question when He said, “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.” God addressed the motives behind the behavior.

Wise leaders are purveyors of hope. Read Zephaniah 3:8-20.

God had spoken and the people of Judah and Jerusalem would be judged for their attitude, treacherous behavior, lack of justice, and arrogant self-righteousness but Zephaniah’s prophecy ended with hopeful words about their long-term future. Zephaniah offers a plan for repentance and helps the people see a way back to God.

Wise leaders understand that a team’s attitude must change from the inside out. Read Zephaniah 2:1-3.

Zephaniah lived during the period of religious reform demanded by King Josiah. Josiah was a godly king of Judah who destroyed idol worship and revived obedience to God, but the outcomes of Josiah’s efforts were incomplete. The people responded to Josiah’s reforms outwardly out of respect for his leadership, but they never acknowledged their own sinfulness and made changes of the heart. Zephaniah knew transformation happens from the inside out.

It takes courage for a leader to speak the truth in the face of opposition. Read Zephaniah 1:1-18.

Zephaniah served as God’s prophet from 635-630 B.C., nearly five years before Jeremiah’s ministry and approximately 50 years before Babylon captured and destroyed Jerusalem. Zephaniah was a contemporary of King Josiah. Josiah was a God-honoring king and sought to bring reform after nearly 60 years of God-defying leadership by Manasseh and Amon. Zephaniah saw that Josiah’s efforts for revival were forcing external change but that the people needed to be transformed in their heart and re-establish core truths that generated true obedience to God. Zephaniah called the people to look at their motives, their desires, their private lives and their heart. He touched a chord that challenged the people to address issues that most leaders fear to bring up.