To cause to grow and become more mature or advanced.

If there was one word leaders need to understand for the future of the church, it would be develop.

Throughout the writings of the apostles, they continued to emphasize the need for the church to develop. Prayers expressed requests to God for help in developing the church.

His word was written to bring maturity. The goal of preaching was to present every person mature in Christ. God gave gifts to various individuals for the purpose of helping the church achieve unity and maturity in the faith. We also find the use of imperative language regarding Peter’s instruction for Christians to grow.

Developing faith and relationship with God is the responsibility of leadership.

We must lead others to a greater love and understanding of the word of truth.

We must assist Christians in an understanding and involvement of their God given abilities in His service.

We must encourage the expression of God’s grace through sharing the love of Christ at the cross.

We must provide an example in all the above.

Leadership is about development. Let us get started.

To lead yourself use your head. To lead others use your heart.

There are two parts to consider in this powerful principle. The first involves an inward focus and the second an outward. Sadly, we far too often see leaders using the opposite approach.

Using our head in leading ourselves means we:

…think before we speak or act.
…consider short and long term consequences of our words and actions.
…weigh the evidence and ask evaluating questions before making decisions.

Using our heart in leading others means we:

…devote ourselves to learning and serving the needs of others.
…prioritize our time toward maturity in relationship development.
…risk the temporary satisfaction for the eternal gain.

This principle of leadership is not always easy to put in place. There are going to be challenges internally and externally. However, if leaders work to develop and practice a more “others interest” in their leadership, it will change the future.

Leadership is worth the time we take to ensure we are invested in leading others in preparation to stand before God.

Souls are precious. Let us always be mindful to lead others with our hearts. Think Souls!

“The essential part of creativity is not being afraid to fail.”  Edwin H. Land

Why is the fear of failure so prevalent in our society today? Whether school, family, business, or even the church, we fear failure.

We do not want to be known as someone who failed. Is failure something to be feared? Are there benefits to failing?

Fear of failing hinders us from seeing opportunities clearly. We become unnecessarily cautious.

Fear of failing lessens the creativity of our leadership. If allowed, fear limits our leadership.

Through failure, Edison learned what to do to invent the light bulb.
Through failure, Macy learned how to run a successful business.
Through failure, Orville and Wilbur Wright learned how to fly.

Failure can be devastating if we allow it. Instead we need to use the failures in our life to become the stepping stones to the power of success.

We are going to make mistakes. Some mistakes are unintentional and some are the result of bad choices. Regardless, the success of our leadership depends on how we look at and deal with the mistakes we make.

Several variations of the “Golden Rule” have been given over the years. For some, it is “do unto others as they have done unto you.” For others, it is “do unto others before they do unto you.”

However, Jesus was clear when He said; “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The implication of Jesus is to do unto others first.

Leadership always brings several interesting twists in the development of leaders and followers. This is especially true within the church.

How do we want others to treat us? Do we want to be treated with respect, integrity, love, appreciation, patience, etc.? If this is how we want to be treated, then Jesus would tell us to treat others this way first!

We must be careful not to allow the practice of culture, or society, to influence and direct our approach to relationships.

If we are not careful, it is easy to react, instead of acting as we should. Sadly, we must be careful to guard against overreacting.

Leaders must learn to act in keeping with the way we want others to act.

Few Bible leaders top the leadership of Josiah. He was young when ascending to the throne. His leadership was extremely beneficial to the nation of Judah.

What was it about Josiah that made his leadership stand out?

Josiah did right in the sight of the Lord. Josiah brought powerful application of God’s word. He removed idolatry and caused Judah to enter into a covenant with the Lord. Throughout his lifetime they did not turn from following God.

Josiah walked in the ways of his father David. This stood in contrast to the leaders of Israel. He was not involved in David’s indiscretions, but David’s obedience to God. He did not turn to the right or left.

Josiah began to seek God. Josiah was active in learning and following God. When the book of the Law was found and read, his reaction was one of humility and inquiry. He desired to know how to observe God’s will.

The reign of Josiah is a record to help spiritual leaders learn a very simple formula with life long application to serving as God would have us serve.

At times a “made up” word can be just as powerful as an “identifiable” word. A friend and fellow worker in the kingdom, Garry Hill, crafted this new word. What does this have to do with leadership?

Garry uses the word referring to what is going on in and around the mission work.

I thought Garry’s usage was humorous, but it also caused me to think about leadership. Garry serves in leadership at the Chimala Bible Institute and he needs to know what is going on in the work.

He needs to know what is going on with the staff and students who are part of the school. He also needs to know what is going on in the development of the church as a result of the Bible Institute’s outreach.

As spiritual leaders, we also need to know what is going on with those we influence everyday. We need to know what is going on in the church and the world around us. When we know what is going on, we can provide what is needed. Goingson? Try it and see how leadership grows.

It’s not about changing them, it’s about changing us.

Give this principle thought. The general mindset of leadership is about changing others. After all, spiritually speaking, we are leading, right? The purpose of our leadership is changing others, right? Are we not supposed to be changing others?

However, before we can change others we must first change ourselves. It is far too easy to ask others to do what we are either not willing to do or have not done yet.

The power of change begins with us. When we make changes in our own lives first, then we are setting an example for others to see why they should change also.

When leadership provides the example of change, then consistency is the model. Perhaps this is why God requires repentance of all.

A change of mind motivates the change of will which, in turn, changes the direction of our action.

As leaders in our homes, communities, and the church, let us first work on changing ourselves and then seek opportunity to help others change.

“Humility is the only true wisdom by which we prepare our minds for all the possible changes of life.” — George Arliss

Spiritual leadership understands the need for humility and there is much we could focus on regarding the affect of humility in leadership. However, the last part of this quote drew my attention.

Preparing our minds for all the possible changes in life is a significant thought to consider.

We are all aware how life is full of changes. Life is constantly changing.

If you and I knew the one secret to prepare ourselves for those changes, would we seek it, take it, and apply it in our lives? I know we all would. This is why I appreciate the value of this quote.

Humility is the one secret to make this preparation. We should remember, developing humility is a lifelong endeavor.

Humility grows to recognize our full need for God.

Humility works each day at putting the needs of others above our own needs.

When the changes of life come along, our humility will enable us to approach the change with the wisdom to deal with it appropriately.

How would we define a normal life? At every level the idea is extremely subjective. Normal in one culture will certainly be different in another culture. As well, normal in the mind of a child will not be normal in the mind of an adult.

Regardless of how we might think about a normal life, there is nothing normal about spiritual leadership.

It is a fairly common idea that the higher one goes in leadership the less they have the right to think about themselves, quite contrary to the mindset of the world. The result shows spiritual leaders…

…are concerned about the nature of their influence inside and outside the church.

…live consistently with what they believe.

…know the mission of God involves saving others, helping people get to heaven.

…work for a cause far greater than themselves.

…share the planning and development of the goals for spiritual maturity.

…produce results that glorify God and fulfill His will.

Look at how the first word of each thought develops a spiritual leader. Spiritual leaders are those who live consistently, knowing the work they share in produces God’s desired will.

David’s leadership exemplifies a number of great qualities. I appreciate how God recorded both the good in David and his character flaws. David will forever be remembered for his indiscretion with Bathsheba, adultery coupled with murder.

I do not want to make light of, nor ignore what is recorded about David. We should also remember he was a man after God’s own heart.

We could spend weeks with various articles, but I want to examine one area of David’s leadership: his respect for God’s will.

Even though David could have taken Saul’s life, and perhaps rightfully so, he respected God’s appointment of Saul as king of Israel.

Even though David was paying for the consequences of his sin, he understood and respected God’s answer in loss of his son.

Even though David was prepared to build a temple to honor God, he respected God’s decision for the temple to be built by Solomon.

David was a man of powerful faith and one of the Bible’s great leaders. One of the reasons his leadership was great is because he respected God’s will in every area of his life.