Knowing which alliances to make and which to stay away from will have a tremendous impact on a leader’s success. Read John 7:14-32.

Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, one of the religious feasts held each year to commemorate a great work of God. As Jesus was teaching in the temple the religious leaders were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?” Jesus’ answer indicated He received His knowledge from God and that set off a firestorm that ended with people trying to seize Him and arrest Him. Jesus knew which alliances to build and which to oppose. He consistently gathered around Him sinners whose hearts were ready to change and consistently stood against the legalistic practices of the religious leaders.

The best leaders know their identity. Read John 1:1, 14.

What Jesus taught and what Jesus did are tied inseparably to who Jesus is, and the same is true for all leaders. John deliberately opened his Gospel with an allusion to the opening words of the creation account in Genesis 1. John shows Jesus as fully human and fully God. Although Jesus took upon Himself full humanity and lived as a man, He never ceased to be the eternal God who has always existed, creator of the universe, the binding force that holds creation together.

Even a negative example can teach leaders positive lessons. Read Luke 16:1-16.

As Jesus spoke with the crowd described in Luke 15:1-2, He told a perplexing story in chapter 16:1-13 that appeared at first glance to encourage dishonesty. Jesus’ real message is that Christian leaders should mimic the steward’s shrewdness, not his dishonesty. This story of the unrighteous manager teaches leaders lessons about shrewdness in business and a few subtle truths about leadership:

The ultimate test of any Christian leader’s willingness to obey God comes when obedience has a high cost to them personally. Read Matthew 26:36-46.

It is just hours before Jesus is arrested by the Jewish religious leaders, put on trial for trumped up charges and His physical death. He is spending these last hours with His disciples and also finding some time to be alone in prayer. They have eaten their final meal together and now in a remote garden, Jesus is alone with God His Father. During these private moments Jesus expressed His personal desire that the horrible agony of physical torture and death be removed from His future. In the ultimate statement of obedience to God Jesus said, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done” (v. 42). Jesus was fully aware of what lay ahead but, professed His conviction that God’s will was best.

A leader’s character is under constant scrutiny. Read Matthew 22:15-46.

Jesus’ words concerning the religious leader’s lack of character triggered their anger and they determined to embarrass Him publicly. The two most powerful religious groups, the Pharisees and Sadducees, sent representatives to ask Jesus difficult questions about Judaism, hoping to show the people that Jesus was not a prophet but a fake who should not be trusted and should, in fact, be killed for violations to the faith. These leaders tried to trap Jesus concerning payment of taxes, His beliefs concerning heaven and the resurrection of the dead, and His beliefs concerning the commandments and the laws of Moses. In their society, wrong answers to these questions could bring a death sentence.