Unfortunately, history is filled with accounts of leaders who disregarded God’s revealed will and chose to do what seemed right to them at the time. Read Proverbs 16:25.

A fundamental question all Christian leaders should have an answer to prior to the temptation to participate is, “When is the price of obedience to God too costly?” Or put another way, “When does my way benefit me so much that it seems more right to me than God’s way?” Every Christian leader should periodically ask, “Do I have a price that would tempt me to choose my desires over God’s standards?” A godly leader’s commitment to God should be such that they will obey Him no matter the perceived value of the compromise offered. Read more »

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” Proverbs 9:10.

A text note in Zondervan’s Leadership Bible states, “Leaders are effective to the extent they can gather, interpret, understand and apply good information. The processes cannot function fully when God’s power and sovereignty are not given appropriate respect. This verse tells us that nothing has higher priority for understanding reality and acting on it than standing in awe of Almighty God.” Read more »

God is a personal being who has paid a great price to make it possible for individuals to enter a relationship with Him through the merits of Jesus Christ. A leader’s relationship with God shapes their perspective. Read Psalm 139.

In Psalm 139 David explores the depths of his relationship with God. He thinks about what it means that God is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. David’s intimate relationship with God and his thoughts about God’s nature shape David’s perspectives on life and leadership. David could be out of answers for his team but God was his source of answers beyond his own ability. David could be isolated as a leader but he was never alone. David could be in a leadership situation where he was totally out of power to control events that looked eminent but his relationship with God allowed him hope. David’s relationship with God allowed him to draw upon God’s perfect wisdom, kept him accountable to God’s justice and gave him a source of infinite power. Read more »

In the Bible God chooses to teach the principles of leadership experientially through the lives of ordinary people. God looks for leaders who will submit to Him, He then makes those individuals aware of a need, and because the leader has submitted to God’s leadership, that need becomes a burden that compels the leader to act. Read the book of Esther.

The book of Esther was set in ancient Babylon, modern day Iraq, a little more than 460 years before the birth of Jesus. The Persians were the world power and ruled most of the known world. A king in Persia was all powerful and most leaders seeking power and position found ways to get close to the king. Read more »

One of the most fundamental leadership truths is that your team will do what they see you model. Read Ezra 9:1-10:44.

After a journey of several months Ezra and the other Jewish exiles arrived in Jerusalem from Babylon. Their first acts were to be accountable to the local officials for the money and gifts they had been given for the city and temple and then to make proper offerings to God at the temple for a safe trip and for His favor. Within just a few days of viewing Ezra’s leadership, knowing Ezra was a teacher of the law and seeing his dedication to give offerings and make sacrifices some of the leaders approached Ezra with a problem. Those most responsible for religious leadership, the priests and Levites, had not kept God’s law to stay separate from those who worshiped false gods and had actually taken pagan wives and allowed their sons to marry women who worshiped false gods. Read more »