It takes great courage on the part of a leader to truly empower those on their team. Leaders that are honest with themselves inherently understand that some of the loyalty of individuals on their team will shift to the one empowered and some of the credit they had enjoyed will also be credited to their empowered teammate. Read 1 Samuel 18:7-29.

The people of Israel had been cruelly oppressed by Philistine rule. Israel’s King Saul and the nation of Israel desperately needed a victory over the Philistine Army. The Philistine soldier Goliath, a nine foot tall Olympic quality athlete/soldier, had single-handedly held Israel’s army at bay for weeks with his daily challenge for one-on-one combat with any Israelite soldier to decide the outcome of the war. King Saul offered a huge reward to the leader that would fight and defeat Goliath. There were no takers.

Leaders are ultimately responsible for what happens within their organization. It is not enough to understand and be good at the work of an organization; if a person is to lead, they must also understand leadership. Read 1 Samuel 2:12-17, 22-25 and 3:11-14.

Eli served as both priest and judge in Israel. As judge Eli dispensed justice between opposing parties. As priest he oversaw and entire nation’s relationship with God. Eli had tremendous influence. People depended on him for their social, political and religious well-being. And every sign (almost every sign) in the Biblical narrative indicates that Eli took his job seriously.

Experienced leaders should have a plan to help inexperienced leaders reach their potential. Read Judges 6.This passage tells a story of an ordinary person who followed God. Gideon lived in the time of Israel’s judges (about 1300 B.C.). Because Israel had stopped obeying God and embraced the foreign gods, the Lord had put Israel under Midianite domination for seven years. The Midianite oppression was so severe and cruel that many of the Israelites had moved into caves in the mountains to escape it.

God chose Gideon as His leader to deliver his people from the Midianite rule. No one who knew Gideon would have guessed he would be God’s choice for His leader. In fact Gideon didn’t believe it himself at first. The narrative in chapter 6 demonstrates God’s accommodation to help Gideon understand God’s call.

Yesterday’s devotional looked at the respect generated by Deborah’s character and actions. With respect comes authority. Read Judges 4.

In general leaders exercise authority on five levels: