In series 1 we talked about evaluating our heart and the importance of nourishing a heart felt relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We also talked about evaluating our motives and our continued committment to a God called purpose to fulfill our God called destiny.

In series 2 we talked about the importance in realizing that we are the temple of God, and how we must build it and protect it,  and the importance of evaluating what comes in and goes out of our spirit and how does it edify us? And how does it edify God?

All these things are important to us as leaders,
for it is only in our preparation to lead that will make us successful in leading like Jesus.

In this series we are going to talk about the importance of Leadership powered with integrity and a committment to please God.

Now, if you live to please God and put Him in charge of your life, your perspective will be characterized by Him, with a God given confidence
to lead that will in turn, gain confidence from those you have been called to lead.

In my many years of leadership, that eventually offered me the opportunity to manage a 5 & 6 million dollar stores... I learned very quickly that
I had to gain the confidence of the team I was trying to lead to success... now the problem is that
as leaders, we have to deal with many different people that come from many different backgrounds,
who have many different ideas and they live their life on many different levels.

In order for us to lead, we must first have a follower. 
So as a leader, how do we learn to relate to each of them in a manner that will gain their respect.

The first test is your demonstration of unconditional love,  acceptance and a value for that person that does not depend on their performance.

Remember your job as a leader is to love and lead unconditionally, and to show the same love as Jesus did...
 
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates His own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

We can never explain the profound effects of unconditional love and acceptance.
We must learn to view them in the same light as God views us, He not only see's us as we are but He also see's us as a completed work.

As a leader we are called to give an account for our stewardship, those that we lead are the objects of God's affection and we must treat them as such.

To gain respect as a leader you must show them that you value them as a person, and as a soul.

Next in line after confidence is TRUST...
Trust is the stream on which caring, committment, and grace flow.

Psalm 9:10

Those who know your name trust in you, Lord,
you have never forsaken those who seek you.

Sometimes trusting in people can leave us in heartache and despair... As a represenative of Jesus Christ we as leaders should always seek to be trustworthy.

A trustful heart that is committed to serve and support others through promises kept, encouragement and appreciation given.

This does not mean that as leaders we sometimes do not have to bring repromand and repentance sometimes when it is needed, but it will be accepted and bring reconciliation and restoration.

Psalm 13:5

But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.

1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast. It is not proud. It is not rude, it is
not self-seeking.
It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres.

When you approach the aspect of leadership in this light, you can see that when you lead with these spiritual virtues, your leadership whether it be in love or whether it be in restoration and bringing forth repentance will be accepted because it is given by the power of the holy spirit through God's vessel, God's chosen leader, YOU!!!

So in this third leadership series, I asked the Lord to help me shine the light of LOVE... In love we can lead, in love we can teach, in love we can be successful.

Listen you determine how others view success, failure, adversity, and how they themselves solve problems...and most of all how they communicate love and self-worth...for they learn from watching you.

Let's dedicate ourselves to show these same qualities Jesus showed from the very first day He stepped on the shore where James and John were fishing and said follow me...I wonder what were some of the attributes they saw in Jesus...that they would instantly hear Him... lay down those net and follow Him.

In a world full of sin and darkness, pride and envy,
self- indulgance, and obscurity, the light that will shine the brightest is the light of Jesus Christ through us.

Our leadership is not limited to what we accomplish, but it is what we leave behind in the hearts and lives of those we have taught.

Throughout His life Jesus taught us that God is not looking for leaders but He is looking for servants.

Those who will allow Him to lead and who will put Him first in all things.

Sometimes we edge God out when we put other things in His place,  it is easy to allow other things to become more important than God, and sometimes it happens and we don't even recognize it.

Also, we can do the same thing by trusting in something other than God and His provision,

anything that is our source of security and self-worth  other than God is in fact removing God from that Leadership position in our life.

Psalm 40:4

Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his TRUST,

who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.

You see God and God alone is the judge of your life,

He is the only one we must seek to please...

In allowing Him to be Lord of our life, the importance of knowing Him and being led by Him

becomes priority over anything or anyone else.

Not only is God the only audience of our life, but He also has the eternal power and unconditional love that will reconcile all things in our life back to Him in all wisdon and purity.

Colossians 1:19-20

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

God is the all knowing God who has the power to reconcile all things to himself...

All great leaders must recognize the importance of allowing God to do this in our lives.

It is a total committment of all that we are and all that we ever hope to be, and a TRUST in God that allows us to commit everything in our heart and life to Him, knowing that it is not in our own abilities that we become successful, but giving all praise to Him, who through His wisdom has made us all things in Christ.

When we truly have come to this place we find a release for all pride and most important all fear.

For these two things alone can cripple our abilities and hold us back, but as we surrender all things to Christ we cannot be held back for we understand that it is through Him we live and move and have our being.

Through Him we can lead in confidence, without fear, and know that as we surrender all to Him, He will bring about the qualities and the leadership abilities we need to make us successful.

And those we are leading can follow us in trust and confidence, for we will always portray the wisdom of the Father.

Also, we will not be afraid to be different and when men come against us or don't understand us, we still stand in confidence, because we know it is God we are seeking to please and not man.

My, what a revival could spring forth if we all could get to this place...

The power of the Holy Spirit would radiate from us,

just as it did from Peter and John as they walked down the street and people were healed as their shadow past by...

Just as Paul, sent out aprons and prayer cloths and many were healed, delivered or set free..

Chains broken, fall to the ground as anointing oil is poured out on those who are bound, sick, and in need.

Truly a wind of change needs to sweep across all of us that we can learn to submit to God this way.

Most of all, I hope that all of us will realize at the end of this series that success can come in many different ways...even the devil can be successful, and we can obtain success through lying, cheating, stealing, manipulation of others...and by using others as our avenue to gain success...but this kind of success is only temporary...it will fade...it will die...

TRUE success comes from 100% submission to God and your success in Him is for eternity...

Think about it!!!

Come back to visit for Leadership Series #4...

Coming Soon!!!!