Day 23: Ephesians 1:2

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”



Two things about this passage really strike me. If you’re familiar with the way Paul begins his letters, you’ll find this phrase or a very similar phrase. It’s very apparent that Paul wishes this for the people that are receiving the letter. In fact, if we had Paul here today I think that he’d confirm that he really wants that for all people.


Second, it’s not about him. He didn’t wish them peace from Paul, he wished them peace from God.


This tells me two things about being a leader:


First, we should be worried about the people who “follow us.” It’s not enough to simply lead them. In today’s world, you may be a leader at a business, where people probably work for you. If you are a leader on a sports team, then people play for you. If you are the leader of a church, it’s a little different, but those people are still paying your salary. If we’re not careful, leadership becomes about what people that we lead can do for us. This is not the right attitude to have. Remember that Jesus said that we were to serve others. We are to look out for them, want the best for them, and strive to give them everything that we have. It’s almost a parental role. If we are looking at those we serve and asking what they can do for us, then we’re coming at it all wrong.


Second, Paul realizes that it’s not about him. If we are a Christian leader, especially in a Christian setting, people shouldn’t be following us at all, they should be following Jesus. Now, I know that sounds kind of funny, and of course they “follow” us, but where do we point them. Paul’s leadership didn’t point back to Paul, it pointed to Jesus. Our leadership should point to Jesus. Remember the old hymn “Let Others See Jesus in You?” This is how our leadership should be. In fact, this is how our lives should be.


As we learn to be leaders, and as we lead, make sure that it’s not about you at all. It’s about others, and it’s about God. Kinda rolls back to the royal command, doesn’t it? Everything does.


CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: Leadership isn’t about the leader. A leader should be taking care of those they lead, and they should be pointing them to Jesus.


Here’s a set of verses for you to meditate on today: Mark 12:28-34


Prayer: Father, help me to lay less importance on myself and lead as you would have me to. Help me to care for those I lead. Help me to show You to them. Help me to become the last. In Christ’s Name, amen.

Day 19: Philippians 1:3-5

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”


A leader has a very special mission from God. We have been allowed a stewardship of not only our own talent and gifting, but that of others as well. Let me unpack that a bit for you: we are given a certain amount of gifts and talents that God wants us to use for His kingdom. When you are a leader, and in charge of an organization or whatever, God is also giving you the talents and gifts of other people that you can direct and focus for His kingdom. That’s an amazing thing.

In Philippians 1, Paul is thanking the Philippian church for their participation in the gospel with him. He is probably referring to their support of him in his ministry, both monetarily and materially.

We need to be thankful for the people that follow us. They are people that have allowed us to lead them. These people aren’t a trophy on your shelf or a feather in your cap. They are people with gifts and talents, who, just like you, have been created for the purpose of bringing glory to God.

Don’t forget to treat those people who follow you as human beings. Leaders in the secular world are well known for treating their followers like resources: just another paper clip, computer, or cell phone that is theirs to use. That is not the MO of the Christian Leader. We understand that if we mistreat the people He has given us to lead, He can just as easily take them from us.

Like Paul, be thankful for those people that God has allowed you to lead. We are all in partnership with God in the gospel.

CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: God allows us to lead people for His glory. Don’t treat them as things. Be thankful for them and be in prayer for them.

Here’s a verse to meditate on today: Luke 22:24-30

Prayer: Father, thank you for giving me a stewardship of leadership. Thank you for those people that have partnered with you in the gospel. Thank you for giving them to me to lead. Help me treat them with the same love and respect that you treat them. In Christ’s name, amen.