Servant-Hearted Leaders
Our acute need is to cultivate a willingness to learn and to remain teachable. How beautiful it is to find a servant-hearted, teachable spirit among those who occupy high-profile positions of authority.
Our world desperately needs models worth following. Authentic heroes. People of integrity whose lives inspire us to take God seriously, to follow His Word obediently, to pursue Christ passionately.
Thankfully, the Bible places before us a spiritual "hall of fame"—raw, uncensored, gritty stories of men and women sometimes soaring, often stumbling, through the incredible life of faith. They wrestled with sin, experienced God's grace, struggled with weakness, and overcame by faith. Their inspiring biographies have been memorialized in Scripture, not simply because of their faith in God but because of God's faithfulness to them.
These great lives from God's Word not only provide realistic portraits for appreciation but also relevant principles for application.
Our acute need is to cultivate a willingness to learn and to remain teachable. How beautiful it is to find a servant-hearted, teachable spirit among those who occupy high-profile positions of authority.
Good leaders will say, “Stay at it!” Ever notice how motivated and strengthened you feel when you have people who come alongside and let you know they want you to succeed? And the result? “Many people were brought to the Lord.”
Sensing the troubled hearts within His disciples, Jesus calmed the men with tranquil words that turned their thoughts toward a place of safety and love—the presence of God in His heavenly home.
Do you live life sensibly and carefully? Or are you someone who lives with great enjoyment, unafraid to take risks? It’s never too late to live life to its fullest.
From the final notes in Jeremiah's mournful song of woe, a refrain of hope emerges. God still sits on His throne and rules the world's affairs. He will restore His people's joy and turn mourning to dancing.
When calamity strikes, possessions offer no comfort. What was important isn't anymore. How do we go on? Even as Jeremiah tours through Jerusalem's wreckage, we find God's hope for reconstruction.
Finally, when we come to the third chapter of Lamentations, we find something in Jeremiah's sad journal that's encouraging! The prophet offers a bright ray of hope, and we're ready to hear it.
God is never obligated to give us health and wealth, but the story of Joseph is an example of a man who was rewarded for his righteousness and kept his integrity intact. From him we can learn how to respond to those who prosper and those who suffer.
Chuck Swindoll continues his study of Lamentations by looking at one of the darkest chapters of Scripture that describe the extreme suffering endured during the destruction of Jerusalem.
Any time you spend encouraging and instructing the young people in your life is worth every minute. Any investment you make in their walk with Christ is a lifelong investment.