True Leadership

In light of the recent loss of Nelson Mandela, I thought a fitting tribute would be to explore leadership a bit.

Mandela epitomized many of these Biblical characteristics as he changed South Africa and the world.

This post is dedicated to the hope that the world can see more leaders like Mandela raised up in Africa and beyond.

RIP Nelson Mandela, an example of true leadership.

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Throughout the Bible, we see examples of leadership.

Joshua is a great example of having a clear vision and boldness as he takes possession of the land.
Nehemiah demonstrates how leadership cuts down spiritual and secular walls by rebuilding both the walls(infrastructure) and the people’s lives.
Jeremiah shows us the less publicized side of leadership, letting us into the weeping prophet’s battles with loneliness and opposition

We would do well to study the life of many of the leaders in Scripture, but especially David.

He is arguably the best Biblical example we have. In 1 Samuel 23:2, we see him “inquiring of the Lord” for direction. As he trusts to Lord for wisdom, it leads to success, even miracles as he battles the Philistines.  This immediately follows leadership decisions he made without seeking God. These were met with difficult consequences. (1 Sam 21-22).

As with almost all Biblical characters, we also see David’s humanity. David’s biggest mistakes took place in the areas of his marriage and his family. We can learn from his life as well as his mistakes. He allowed the leadership of the country to take priority over disciplining his children. We can see the fruit of this as his sons rebel against God and him.

We can draw great hope from even the mistakes of David.  We too can become successful leaders in spite of our shortcomings.

God does not require perfect people. 2 Corinthians 4:7 shows us this. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” We are but ordinary vessels, the power belongs to God.

Titus 1:5-9 is a great list of qualities for a leader that Paul gives Titus as he appoints elders in Crete. All of these things are important, but Perhaps David gives us the most important contribution to our leadership discussion. Leaders must place their dependence in the Lord.

Application:
Do we depend on the Lord in the places we already exert influence; in our jobs, in our families, in our communities?

How are things going in your marriage? Do you receive input from your spouse, or does one person make all the decisions?

How are your children doing in their walks with the Lord. While our children do not disqualify us from leadership, they are our first and foremost disciples.

This post is one in a series of devotionals which were published in La Biblia Del Discipulo (The Discipleship Bible), which is a Spanish language Bible. For more information on the Bible, please visit : http://www.bibliadeldiscipulo.com.

The E-Version is also available for IPads or mobile devices. Copyright 2011.