Leading Like Jesus

1 Corinthians 11:1 - And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.

Paul knew what it meant to be a good leader.  It means leading from the front like Jesus led.  It means leading by example like Jesus led.  Paul strove to imitate Christ's leadership.

They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery.  You only flatter someone you like or admire.  It's easy to think that Paul may have been trying to get the believers in Corinth to follow him, but that isn't the case.  He was reminding them that they should be striving to follow and imitate Christ.

Jesus was the best leader that ever lived.  He showed what it meant to lead from the front.  To lead by example, and to be a servant leader that was interested in only doing God's will.  He gave His life as a sacrifice so that when we followed His example of love, and believed in His life-giving truth, we would no longer follow our sinful nature, but follow the One that came to free us from it (Romans 8:4).

Jesus' greatest example of servant leadership was shown in John 13 when He washed the feet of His disciples.  He wasn't telling us that we had to necessarily wash everyone's feet (thankfully), but He was showing us that we should care for the one's that are put in our charge.  We should show a genuine interest and care for those that we lead.  That is servant leadership.

So how do we start leading like Jesus led?  We begin by keeping our eyes and our hearts focused on Him.  Proverbs 4:25 says to look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.  Since we have turned away from our sinful nature, and have made the commitment to follow Jesus, He is what lies before us.  Keeping our hearts focused on God's will is the place to start.  He will never lead us astray, and He will never ask us to do anything that He isn't willing to do Himself first.  He proved that when He gave up His only Son to redeem us.  He isn't asking us to sacrifice our children for Him, but He did that so that we would know that whatever we needed, He would provide when we ask Him with a right heart.  A heart focused on Jesus and His example of servant leadership.

Dear Abba Father, thank You for showing me the right way to lead those that You have placed in my charge.  I pray that I will continue to seek You for guidance, understanding, and discernment, and that I will always seek Your will first before I make any decisions that affect those under me.  I pray for those that never had the right training of leadership.  My prayer is that they will find that the best leadership training is found in Your Word, and that they will seek You out for the wisdom and discernment they need to lead properly and effectively.  In Jesus' name, Amen!



God Bless!!!