Day 9: Proverbs 12:15

“A fool’s way is right in his own eyes, but whoever listens to counsel is wise.”



Surely you’ve done this before. You get this great idea, I mean, like make a million dollars good idea. It’s so good you don’t tell anyone else about it, out of fear that they will steal it (it’s that good). So you set to work on your idea. You work hard, and finally the day comes to unveil your masterpiece. Then it bombs. Maybe it’s a school project, a paper, a business idea, or a lemonade stand, I don’t know. So why did it bomb? Because you didn’t talk to anyone else about it. Sometimes we’re so caught up in not wanting anyone else to get the credit that we don’t get anyone else’s advice. Bad move. We usually end up falling flat on our faces that way.


God speaks to us in many ways. He speaks to us through His word, the Bible. He speaks to us through prayer and quiet time. And sometimes He speaks to us through other godly people. The fact is that we need Christian people around us at all times speaking into our lives. Just because we are leaders doesn’t mean we know everything. In fact, a good leader is one who can admit that not only do they not know everything, they don’t know much of anything. The greatest leaders (bar Jesus, who really did know everything) are ones that surround themselves with extremely wise people to help you make decisions and let you know when you are going to fall on your face.


Who do you let counsel you now? Anyone? Noone? As you develop yourself as a leader, develop a group of contacts that can give you wise counsel as you make decisions. Start with pastors, youth leaders, parents, or extremely godly friends and teachers. Whoever it is, they’ll steer you clear from trouble, and maybe you’ll get to speak into their life to.


CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: We all need wise people to give us advice. We can’t go it alone, and God didn’t make us that way, anyway. Don’t ever make a decision by yourself. Give God the opportunity to speak to you through a trusted friend or advisor.


Here’s a set of verses to meditate on today: I Kings 4:1-6, and 2 Timothy 4:9-18.


Prayer: Father, show me people that you would like to advise me. Please humble me so that I never think I can do things on my own. Give me a godly, loving group of people who will give me good advice and speak Your words to me. In Christ’s name I pray, amen.

Day 8: Proverbs 10:12

“Hatred stirs up conflicts, but love covers all offenses.”



All, right, it’s survey time. Let’s say there’s this person at school that you don’t like. I mean, really don’t like. They stole your boyfriend, made fun of your prom outfit, and you’re pretty sure they are trying to steal your friends. How probable is it that you are going to forgive this person? Likely? I don’t think so. In fact, I bet there’s gonna be some total drama.


Now, let’s say you’ve got a really good friend, someone you love dearly, and they do something terrible to you. What about now? Are you going to forgive them? Probably. It might take a little time, but your love for that person will triumph. That’s what this verse is talking about. Love triumphs over everything.


Now, before you think I’m some sort of hopeless romantic that watches chick flicks, let me give you God’s definition of love: putting the person you love ahead of yourself. Jesus talked about this a lot. He was all about putting other people first. Like when He died on the cross to save you from your sin. That’s putting other people first. That’s love.


If you are looking to put other people’s interests ahead of your own, the likelihood of conflicts goes way down. On the other hand, if you’re looking to please yourself, prepare for some major drama. True love covers all offenses. True love covered your offenses when Jesus died and rose again. You are no longer in conflict with God. It’s up to us to put that same principle into effect in our own lives.


As you lead other people, sooner or later there are going to be some people you have a hard time getting along with. In fact, there will be some people who want to take you down, who will say terrible things about you behind your back (and to your face), and people who will do everything in their power to make sure your life is a miserable soap opera (is this sounding like anyone you know yet?).


You want to know your secret weapon against such people? Love. It’s really hard to dislike someone, or to have a fight erupt when you truly love someone. Jesus said that we could tell his followers by their love for one another. How’s your love?


CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: Being leader means dealing with people, and sometimes dealing with people can be hard. When you love the people you lead, it makes your life and their life much easier. Conflicts arise when you get upset. It’s hard to get upset when you love someone.


Here’s a set of verses to meditate on Today: John 15:9-17


Prayer: Lord, help me to love as You love me. Help me to love my neighbor as myself. When I have problems with other people, help me to see them as You see them. Help me to stay away from conflict and to lead in a loving, godly manner. In Christ’s name I pray, amen.

Day 7: Proverbs 10:9

“The one who lives with integrity lives securely, but whoever perverts his ways will be found out”.



You know, growing up, I heard about integrity all the time. It was like Dad’s favorite word. I would hear “you’re nothing without integrity”, or “your integrity is all you have in this world”, or something real similar like two or three times a day. To be completely honest, I kept asking myself “what is integrity, and why does my dad think it’s so important”? Of course, like so many times my father was talking, he would tell me what integrity was, but I wasn’t listening. Not until now.


So, what is integrity? Integrity can be summed up this way: “doing the right thing, even when nobody is watching”. I can’t claim any credit for that, it was my dad’s definition. He would say it over and over, and only recently did it make any sense.


The bible has quite a bit to say about how we are supposed to live, and we should really pay attention. My dad’s definition of integrity was a good one, but it left out one thing: God always sees. We’d better be doing the right thing all the time. If we don’t, and other people see us, then we lose our leadership ability and any opportunity we might have to talk to them about Jesus.


This verse is very straightforward: even if people don’t see us doing the wrong thing, we will be found out. God knows, so our fellowship with Him is diminished. And let’s not forget, that everything we do has consequences in this life, and sooner or later if we screw up, it tends to bubble up so everyone can see it(usually at a very bad time). When we do the right thing all the time (don’t get me wrong, we all screw up, but let’s not use that as an excuse, huh?) then we can live securely. We don’t have to worry about when our darkest secrets will be revealed, because we won’t have any if we live a life of integrity.


You want to see a good example of someone’s screw up being found out? Just ask all these yahoos who have been stealing from their companies, or cooking the books so their stock prices stay afloat. Everything was fine until the business collapsed and then it came out: they were thieves. Will anyone ever follow them again? I don’t think so. Learn from it.


CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: We have to live every moment knowing that God is right here with us, and sees everything we do. We also need to know that when we screw up, no matter how good we are at hiding it, everyone always finds out.


Here’s a set of verses to meditate on today: Matthew Chapters 5-7.


Prayer: Father, you have given me leadership ability. You have given me spiritual gifts unique to me. Please, Lord, help me to do the right thing so that people will listen when I talk, and follow when I lead. Help me to confess when I screw up, so my sin doesn’t become a roadblock to serving You. I thank you father, that You are capable of all things, and will guide me in the paths that I should walk. In Christ’s name I pray, amen.

Day 6: Proverbs 9:8-9

“Don’t rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will learn more."



All right, we’re gonna talk about two things today. Being rebuked and being taught. Sounds like fun, yeah?


First of all, What the heck is a rebuke? That’s when someone calls you out when you do something stupid. I’m sure that’s never happened to you (in the last five minutes). What do you do when someone points out that you’re wrong. Do you pout? Do you deny being wrong? Do you get angry? Solomon says that only idiots do those things. A wise person is always looking to learn from their mistakes. Wise people also know that they’ll be learning from their mistakes a lot, because at the heart of it, we’re a bunch of foul-ups. So the next time someone points out the fact that you’re stuck on stupid, consider very carefully how you react. Learn from your mistake. Trust me, you’ll be mad a lot less, and you’ll learn a lot more.


In the same vein, If you’re going to be a Christian leader (and you are), then you’re going to have to adapt a very difficult stance on life: you can always learn more. This is pretty obvious as you go through your studies at school and learn new things everyday. Sometimes though, we start to think we’re smarter than everyone else, and we refuse to learn from anyone. Bad move. In fact, Solomon says here that a righteous, wise man will always be teachable. We have to constantly be looking for ways to learn. There is always someone who is smarter and more experienced than we are. We need to look for them, and ask them to teach us. This could mean a chat over coffee, or a mentor type of situation. It might also mean we need to read more books (I know, I can hear everyone groaning now).


And let’s not forget, everyone we meet has something they can teach us. Don’t think because you’re smarter, better educated, or are a leader that you can’t learn anything from the people you lead. The best leaders learn as much as they teach.


CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: Always look for ways to learn. Whether through mistakes or from someone that knows more than we do, never stop learning. The day we stop learning is the day we stop growing as a leader.


Here’s a set of verses to meditate on today: Luke: 18:18-23.


Prayer: Lord, make me teachable. Humble me and show me where I am wrong. Help me listen to others who have something to teach me. Above all, give me a love for Your word. In Christ’s Name, amen.

Day 5: Proverbs 9:6

“Leave inexperience behind, and you will live; pursue the way of understanding.”



As leaders, we have to understand something. We are going to be called on to do some pretty hard things. And we’re going to expect the people we lead to do some pretty hard things. I know that doesn’t settle well with a lot of you, because who wants to do something hard? I bet you got up this morning and was like “gosh, I hope I get to do something hard today”. Right? Maybe we should be saying that. There’s a lot in this world that we won’t understand until we get out there and try it. You know, live a little. Now this isn’t a Nike ad. I’m not saying “Just do it”. What I am saying is that we have to put our feet on the floor and our nose to the grindstone and get a little experience.


Experience means a lot to the people you’re going to lead. There’s only so far your good looks are going to get you. You may be a natural people magnet. Like, when you smile, people just flock around you. But try to lead people into something difficult, and the first question they’re gonna ask is this: “Have you done this before?” Am I right? Wouldn’t you? Let’s say you are going to climb Mount Everest, the highest mountain on earth. Your team leader seems like a great guy. He’s got all the coolest equipment, has a great plan, and is the nicest guy on earth. Just before you start your journey, he announces to the group that he’s never been mountain climbing. Still want to go? Negative. It’s the same way with being a leader. While you can’t experience everything, you can get out there and experience as much as you can so that when people ask “have you done this before?” You won’t lose your followers, and your task won’t fail.


CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: Experience is a must for any leader. The only way to get experience is to learn and do as much as you can in your field of leadership. Don’t be afraid to try hard things, because it will make things easier later.


Here’s a set of verses to meditate on today: Matthew Chapter 10.


Prayer: Master, you know your plan for me. You set it for me before the creation of the Earth. Thank you. Allow me to gain experience to better lead Your people. Give me courage to do hard things, and the strength to finish them. Thank you for the experience needed to make wise choices. In Christ’s name I pray, amen.

Day 4: Proverbs 3:9

“Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest…”



We like stuff. Lots of stuff. We can’t get enough of it. We watch commercials about stuff, go to stores to buy stuff, and build whole buildings to store stuff when our own homes can’t hold all of our stuff. God doesn’t really like stuff. He loves you. He wants you. He went a long way in order to have a relationship with you. Now that we have that relationship, God wants us to love Him, not stuff.


God wants us as leaders to ooze God in every area of our lives. He wants us to be countercultural in our thoughts and actions. One of these areas is our stuff. God wants us to honor Him with our stuff. How can we do that? We can use our stuff for Him. Think about it. Our money, our possessions, our time: All of these things can be used for God or they can be used for us. We make the choice. Most people live for their stuff. We have to find a way to make our stuff work for God.


Notice that God doesn’t just want us to use our possessions for Him, but He wants us to honor him with the “first produce”. Now, since most of us aren’t farmers, that doesn’t mean much to us. Here’s what He wants: God is saying that one way we worship God is to give the first portion of our money, time, and talents to Him. That means we serve Him, give money for His causes, and develop the gifts that He gave us. And we do it before we do anything else. Seriously, before anything else. Why? Because it lets other people see that we serve God and not ourselves. And people are drawn to leaders who are real about who they serve.


CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: God wants us to give our best to Him. Giving our first and best tells others about the God we serve.


Here’s a set of verses to meditate on today: Malachi 3:7-12.


Prayer: Father, you have given me everything. Teach me to give back to you. Give me the courage to show the world who I serve by how I spend my money, my time, and my talents. Teach me to be faithful through my giving and my spending. In Christ’s name, amen.

Day 1: Proverbs 1:7

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”


I think this is a good place to start. Remember that knowledge is one part of our wisdom equation. But if you’re like me, then this doesn’t make sense at first. Knowledge comes from reading books, studying, listening to long boring lectures, and sitting in classrooms for hours on end, right? Not exactly. See, God works in a different way. Sure, doing all those other things can get you somewhere, and generally speaking, they are all good things. But if you want real knowledge that leads to wisdom, you’ve got to go to God for it. Now, don’t misunderstand the whole “fear of the Lord” thing. “Fear” can be translated “healthy respect for” just as easily. What the author, Solomon, was trying to say was this: “Have faith in God, respect Him as creator of the universe, turn your learning over to Him, and He’ll give you real knowledge that leads to wisdom”. Fools don’t do this, they try to get wisdom on their own, apart from God. That’s what makes them foolish. So, here we are at the first step. Are you ready? Look to God for knowledge. That means get into your Bible hardcore, pray like none other, and ask God to teach you. He can teach you, you know, cause He created EVERYTHING!


CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: Having faith in God is the first step in getting wise. God gives you knowledge through His word and prayer time.


Here’s some verses you might want to meditate on Today: Matthew 7:24-29.


Prayer: “Father, I’ve turned my life over to you and now I turn my learning over to you as well. I recognize the call you’ve put on my life, and know I have to rely on You to work through me. Teach me Your ways, teach me Your knowledge, and give me Your wisdom. I thank you for choosing me to work for You, and I ask that You guide me through this journey. In Jesus name I pray, Amen”.