The Heart of Leadership
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Who is someone you look up to or see as a mentor? Tell us about a memorable experience with him or her.ย
โข When you were younger, what career or profession did you want to have? How has that changed over time?
โข How would you describe a good leader?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฉ๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ก๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ, ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, โ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.โ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, โ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ?โ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, โ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ถ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ช๐ต, ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง๐ต, ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ.โ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ฏ๐ฑโ๐ฏ๐ณ
(Read also ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ฏ๐ดโ๐ฐ๐ฑ.)
Young people see the need for good leadership, but thereโs a tendency to be put off by how many today practice leadership. It is more commonly seen as putting self-interest first. There are those who abuse authority and power to get what they want. Sadly, this is not new. Even James and John tried to leverage their relationship with Jesus for their benefit, asking to be placed in positions of authority. Godโs design for leadership is for us to steward our influence to serve others.ย
We all have a next generation coming after us. We have an opportunity to change the world by leading them and with them. We do this by following the standards of Godโs word, not the worldโs. Let us look at what true leadership looks like.
๐ญ. ๐ง๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒโ๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ด๐น๐ผ๐ฟ๐.
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, โ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฆ๐น๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ. . . .โ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ฐ๐ฎโ๐ฐ๐ฏ
James and John wanted prominent positions of authority. But Jesus was telling them that true leadership in His kingdom is not about forcefully wielding authority over their followers. If we want to practice biblical leadership and service, we have to understand that we are followers of Jesus first; therefore, our leadership ought to closely reflect how He ledโnot seeking after His own glory. What are the limitations to leadership in a culture that values position, visibility, popularity, or online influence?
๐ฎ. ๐ง๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ถ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐.
โ. . . ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ต . . .โย ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ฐ๐ฏ
Jesus teaches His disciples and us that leadership is not about power or position, but about how you serve the people God has placed around you. While at the surface it may seem that others serve well, their hearts are bent toward their own benefits. But Jesusโ kind of leadership is motivated by love for and service to God and others. Are we willing to love and serve the people around us, even when no one sees or praises us for it?
๐ฏ. ๐ง๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ.
โ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ.โย ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ฐ๐ฑ
Leadership gets tricky when we serve outwardly while our hearts are still self-serving. This is seen in different generations. Many may practice โvirtue signaling,โ which means publicly expressing moral values to display their โgoodness,โ instead of genuinely acting for the benefit of others. But Jesus demonstrated true leadership when He came to give His life to redeem people from slavery to sin and to serve others. Christlike leadership means denying yourself every day and serving through surrender. What does Philippians 2:5โ8 say about Jesusโ ultimate expression of leadership and service?ย
Before Jesus set an example for us to follow, He is first our Savior. His sacrificial death as a ransom for many is the foundation that enables us to serve others. We do not serve to earn Godโs favor; we serve because Christ has already served us by giving Himself for us.
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข In light of Jesusโ example of leadership, how should we look at others, especially younger people? How do you think you can set an example for believers of dying to self and leading through sacrifice?ย
โข In what ways is God calling you to participate in reaching and leading the next generation where you are? How will you obey Him, as Jesus did?
โข Think of one or two young people in your community or sphere of influence. How may you help them grow in their relationship with God and live out their calling and purpose in Him?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for His heart for the next generation. Thank Him for calling every generation to follow Him and take part in what He is doing in the world.
โข Ask God to teach you to look at others from His perspective. Pray that God would help you serve those around you.
โข Pray for boldness and compassion to preach Godโs word to the next generation and to raise them as leaders who follow Jesusโ example.