Leaders have natural leadership skills that may bring them significant recognition during their career but an ongoing legacy that lasts for generations depends on more than their personal skill. Read Psalm 103:15-18.

Some outstanding traits of leadership in the natural are self-confidence, integrity, knowledge and understanding of people, the ability to make decisions, ambition, communication skills, and the ability to delegate yet none of these will guarantee a leader joy in their work or lasting values that create a legacy of happiness for their family. In fact “As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more” (vv. 15-16). Read more »

Wise leaders do not confuse activity with accomplishment. Read Psalm 49.

David knew ordinary circumstances growing up on a sheep farm as part of a middle class or lower class family, and he knew what it was like to have great wealth and power and live as the king of Israel. Leaders don’t have to have that wide a swing in life circumstances to know that setting life priorities can get confusing and conflicting. Leaders have to decide what matters most or they become victim to their selfish desires or the circumstance that makes the loudest demand. As significant as success, security, and significance are there is something more meaningful, and if a leader misses it they miss everything. Read more »

Yesterday, we looked at leaders becoming winners by winning the internal battle. Effective leaders know that it is not enough for them to win the inside battle; they know their team also must win that battle for the organization to go to another level. Read 2 Chronicles 34 and 35.

Josiah is remembered as a king of Judah that “…walked in the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left” (34:2b). His legacy is that of an effective leader and godly king. No leader can leave this kind of legacy without a quality team surrounding them. Josiah’s reforms affected the whole nation because his beliefs and core values became the beliefs and core values of those that surrounded him in leadership. Read more »

Effective leaders see a better future for their organization and act upon that vision. They demonstrate courage based on conviction and make the hard decisions needed to bring about change. Read 2 Chronicles 34.

“Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did – with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the law of Moses” (2 Kings 23:25). Josiah “walked in the ways of his father David, not turning to the right or to the left” (2 Chronicles 34:2). Now that is a legacy every Christian leader would love to have. Read more »

There are times when a leader can get a new understanding of their character and the core values they have consciously or unconsciously chosen. There comes a point when leaders realize that everything they have given their life to has little or no lasting value; they see their legacy as God sees it and they know they need to change. Read 2 Chronicles 33:1-20.

Manasseh became king of Judah when he was 12 years old. He ruled in Judah for 55 years. His spiritual legacy, based on the majority of his leadership life is described in 33:2, “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.” During the early years of his reign, Manasseh rebuilt the altars to false gods; he was involved in witchcraft, sorcery, astrology, consulted spiritualists and mediums and even killed his own children for religious purposes, burning them alive because of his superstitions. Manasseh led the people of Judah totally away from the God of his forefathers. Even when the Lord spoke to Manasseh and the people they totally ignored Him so He withdrew His protection from Judah, and the Assyrians captured Judah and made Manasseh a prisoner. Read more »