Leaders are simply stewards of the resources God has given them. Read Luke 19:11-26.

During His public ministry Jesus often told stories that illustrated a principles for life. In one of these stories Jesus told about a landowner who, just prior to leaving on an extended trip, gave three men some funds to spend, save, or invest. Each had the freedom to use the money as they saw fit but each would be asked for an account of how they handled the money when the landowner returned. The landowner’s expectation was that these men would be stewards of the money he had given them and, in Jesus’ story, those who had been faithful stewards of the funds were rewarded for their efforts and those who did not steward the funds would be held accountable.

Effective leaders seek to develop God-honoring character. Read Matthew 18:21-35.

Jesus’ disciples were already leaders when they started following Him but spending time with Jesus caused them to see elements of their life that did not match His words and actions. As they saw Jesus’ consistency, the disciples started trusting Jesus’ character enough to ask the inner-hidden-deeper-secret personal questions they were struggling with in their lives. Peter asked Jesus a question every leader struggles with, “How many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” He must have been shocked when Jesus’ answer was, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Wise leaders use rewards as a natural part of positive reinforcement for accomplishments and they also have a system that applies appropriate consequences for failure. Read Lamentations 4:6-8.

Over the years God had blessed the nation of Israel and the city of Jerusalem. Under David and Solomon’s rule no other nation knew such business or military success. God had blessed the nation with abundance through their agricultural system and had established such a military power under David’s leadership that Solomon knew almost 40 years of peace. Even during these most prosperous days God detailed a consequence should the kings, priests and people of the nation fail to keep their covenant.

God longs to bless and reward obedient leaders. Read Jeremiah 29:1-14.

Jeremiah had warned Judah for decades to repent of their violations of the covenant they had made with God. Eventually God gave Babylon military success against Judah. Babylon invaded Judah three times. Once they simply made Jerusalem and Judah subject to their rule and forced them to pay an annual tribute, once they took several thousand captives back to Babylon including the king and his family, Daniel and others that were the brightest and best Judah had to offer, and during the third invasion they destroyed the city of Jerusalem, mercilessly massacred thousands, and took virtually all the able bodied back to Babylon in chains.