February 3, 2021
3 Good qualities for Leaders #
Proverbs 24:27
Introduction
You may not think of yourself as a leader, but in reality, you probably are a leader in some form or fashion. Fathers are to be leaders of their families… therefore they are leaders. Mothers are to be leaders to their children and spend a great deal of time teaching, many times simply by example. You may be a manager at work, and lead people. You may be a business owner, and carry more responsibility on your shoulders. It doesn’t matter if you lead few, or lead a multitude, you should strive to do the best at whatever you do in life. Leadership is not something to be taken lightly. It is also one of those areas that we all could use improvement in.
I. Preparation (27) #
A. Preparation #
i. A Word to the Wise by Paul Chappell writes: #
In the early 1900s the world watched with excitement and intense interest as the race to be the first to reach the south Pole unfolded. The two frontrunners were Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and British naval officer Robert Falcon Scott. Scott’s expedition set out hoping to arrive first. After weeks of strenuous and dangerous travel, Scott and four other men reached the South Pole – only to find that Amundsen and his party had beaten them by five weeks. Disappointed in their failure, they set out on the eight hundred mile journey back to safety.
That return journey proved fatal. Scott and his group failed to connect with the dog teams that were meant to meet them on the way and speed their trip to safety. The party was trapped by a massive blizzard, their supplies ran out, and all of them perished. Scott was lauded as a hero and received posthumous honors from the British Empire. But as historians began to study his surviving notes and the accounts of others, they came to realize that the fate of Scott and his party was largely due to his failures as a leader, specifically his failure to plan for the adversity and hardships he and his men would face in the hostile Antarctic.
Wisdom places great value on planning and preparation because of the important connection between how we start and how we finish. Jesus pointed out the importance of planning when He asked, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?” Luke 14:28. Many of the problems we have come because we simply did not prepare to avoid them before beginning our work. Seek wise counsel, pray, search the Scriptures, and determine your direction before you begin – It brings great protection.
B. God Prepares! #
- Jonah 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
- Jonah 4:6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
- Jonah 4:7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.
- Jonah 4:8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
- John 14:2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
C. Make it fit for thyself (27) #
i. Establish yourself #
You are not establishing yourself in society…
- Prepare yourself! Not necessarily in society to have a house, car, career etc before you start a family.
Establish yourself in God! Paul admonishes young Timothy (his son in the faith)
2Tim. 2:1 ¶ Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2Tim. 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
II. Production (27) #
House is used 2000+ times in the Bible. Often is is used in reference to the family.
A. Building a house takes work! #
i. We are talking about raising kids…. #
Prov. 22:6 ¶ Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
- If you do not train your child to work, they will not work
- If you do not train your child to do right, they will not do right
- These things are taught! It doesn’t happen by accident.
ii. Built with prayer and faith! #
Psa. 127:1 ¶ Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
B. Building a team takes work! #
i. Building a sports team #
- My daughter played basket ball…first team @ school
III. Prudence - (28-29) #
Prudence – wisdom in the way of caution and provision, discretion, carefulness
A. Don’t be Destructive (28a) #
- Why are people so destructive, hurtful, mean spirited? - LOST!
- Don’t give revenge! (29)