BECOMING A LEADER

Luke 4: 16-19

our character is the foundation for your leadership. As you develop character, integrity,

honesty, sincerity, humility and kindness, you will be able to break free from selfishness and

self-centredness. You begin to develop greater capacity for generosity. As a believer in God,

love is the foundation for character. When you show love, you become sensitive to other

people’s needs and thus increase your sphere of influence.

Below are some of the basic emotional needs of every human being:

1) The need to be loved: This is the most important part of everyone’s life. (John 3: 16)

Everyone needs to experience the feeling that comes from knowing that someone really

cares for them. We respond positively to anyone who shows they care for us. John 13:1

says of Jesus that “…He loved them to the end”. John 13: 34 says “…love one another; as I

have loved you”. To succeed in leadership, you need to genuinely care for people. The

Gospels let us know that Jesus cared for all categories of people. The family is the primary

place where God provided for people to give and receive love. Someone said “God gives you

a family to prepare you for an enemy”. Show love to those in your family because if you fail

to love at home, it is likely you will fail to love outsiders. In the Bible, we learn about Joseph

who did not become a bitter person because of the bad experiences he had suffered at

home. Instead, he developed his character and ultimately fulfilled destiny.

2) Acceptance: Each individual needs to be accepted for who they are. Do not impose

conditions on people before you accept or love them. Christ’s approach to leadership shows

He accepted people as they were. His interaction with the Samaritan woman by the well

(John 4) and the woman caught in the act of adultery are good examples. In His day,

different categories of people were marginalised and mistreated. He also showed that

children were important when He stopped His sermon and focused on them. If you have

prejudices, then there is a failure mechanism in your leadership capacity.