Throughout history, when delegating leadership responsibility, God has looked for individuals with specific character traits rather than certain skills or physical qualifications. Read Genesis 6:5-7:1.

Humankind had grown so evil that God pledged to destroy it and all living things on earth (6:7). But the Lord’s pronouncement of judgment did not come without hope; God chose Noah, a righteous man, a man whose everyday actions indicated that he lived out his belief in God, to take the lead to save a remnant.

True leaders learn from their failure. Adam and Eve were a perfect compliment for each other and were co-leaders over creation. Eve was a leader who learned from her failure. Read Genesis 4:1-5:5.

Eve lived in a world that was free of pain, heartache and sin. Her choice to follow Satan rather than God brought devastating consequences to earth that we still suffer with today. Eve exchanged her life without pain for a hostile world with a brutal environment and even became the first mother to endure the heartache of a murdered child. Yet Eve demonstrated an ability to recover from failure and move forward.

Adam was earth’s first leader. He was appointed steward over the resources and relationships God had created. When Adam ate the forbidden fruit he became the first leader to fail. So where did Adam go wrong and how can you avoid the same mistakes? Read Genesis 3:6-19.

Leadership requires the willingness to take responsibility for personal and corporate actions. By remaining passive when he should have taken action, Adam allowed both Eve and himself to fall morally. By denying responsibility when God confronted him, Adam damaged all his relationships, spoiled the beautiful garden he lived in, and ultimately devastated all his children and even all mankind.

God delegated responsibility for a task and the authority to complete the task to man. Read Genesis 1:26-28 and 2:18-20.

When God asked man to do a job, He gave him all the authority needed to complete the assignment. Man was not completely tested nor trained when God assigned him dominion over His creation. God allowed man to make decisions that He did not overrule. Could God have done it better? Yes! Was God still in charge even though man was making some independent decisions? Yes! Was there a chance that man would somehow fumble the assignment? Yes, in fact that is exactly what happened.