A God-honoring leader’s life will demonstrate integrity, not hypocrisy. Read Matthew 23:1-36.

Jesus continued to prove He was the promised Messiah by daily giving additional information to His disciples and the crowds. At the same time, He became more and more at odds with the religious leaders of the day. These leaders had established positions of power and authority and had chosen to enforce only selected portions of the laws God had given through Moses and the prophets. The Pharisees did not match their personal actions to the known scriptures of the day and, in fact, twisted them for their own personal gain.

Leaders must do the right thing for the right reason. Matthew 6:1-34.

Jesus challenges the people claiming to serve the One True God saying they were doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. In verse one He says, “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Jesus called people who practice this kind of morality hypocrites. He used the word three times in this chapter (vv. 2, 5, and 16). Three times people are cited for violating their integrity by doing something only for the appearance.

Teams tend to become like their leader – good or bad! Read Malachi 2:1-9.

The leaders, both civil and religious, in Malachi’s day did not live up to the standards set by God for Hebrew leaders. Chapter 2 is full of accusations against their hypocrisy, treachery in the home, violations of temple regulations, marrying people who worshiped foreign gods, divorce, and false teachings. The people followed their example and the entire nation dishonored God. This behavior got God’s attention and in verse 9 God says, “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people…”

Effective leaders connect with their team before they correct their team. Read Malachi 1:1-14.

The name Malachi means “Messenger of Yahweh.” Malachi was the last prophet to bring the Hebrew people any message from God until John the Baptist brought God’s word to the Jews approximately 400 years later as the forerunner of Jesus. Malachi uses an easy to follow question and answer format to address issues such as divorce, infidelity, hypocrisy, tithing, false worship, complacency, and arrogance. Even though Malachi had a difficult message of the changes the leaders needed to make to please God he made a connection with the people before he brought God’s message of correction.