The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 4 MAY 2021 – The Essence And Qualities Of Leadership
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TOPIC: The Essence And Qualities Of Leadership (Anglican Devotional 4 May 2021)
READ: Deuteronomy 1:9-18 (NKJV)
- ” And I spoke to you at that time, saying: ‘I alone am not able to bear you.
- ‘The LORD your God has multiplied you, and here you [are] today, as the stars of heaven in multitude.
- ‘May the LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous than you are, and bless you as He has promised you!
- ‘How can I alone bear your problems and your burdens and your complaints?
- ‘Choose wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.’
- “And you answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have told [us] to do [is] good.’
- “So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and knowledgeable men, and made them heads over you, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, leaders of tens, and officers for your tribes.
- “Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear [the cases] between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the stranger who is with him.
- ‘You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for the judgment [is] God’s. The case that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it.’
- “And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.
THE MESSAGE:
Many families, organisations and nations are in chaos because of bad leadership. Leaders are necessary because no one person, as Moses said, can do the work alone (verse 9). Leaders are always faced with weaknesses, pressures and the burdens of the led (verse 12) Hence, it is important to create chains of leadership over tens, fifties, hundreds and thousands (verse 15) for effectiveness. This is a lesson for people who feel threatened, when others try to work with them. Today’s passage states that leaders should: Be wise, understanding, experienced and respectful; have ability to sacrifice time to attend to subordinates; demonstrate fearless impartiality in judgment no matter who is involved; be able to understand the dynamics of hierarchical organisation.
Unfortunately some leaders are chosen based on religion, ethnic, kinship, etc. Such choices end up becoming square pegs in round holes; the bane of various organisations and nations for decades. Let us learn to choose leaders according to biblical principles. Note that as the light and salt of the world, we are all leaders as believers. Hence it is expected that we pattern our lives to be wise, respectful, impartial, fearless, sacrificial and dependent on godly superiors.
PRAYER: Father, give us wisdom to choose godly leaders in our nation and Church and help me to exhibit godly leadership qualities in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
