The Art Of Leadership By Dag Heward-Mills
Every leader ought to be creative. Creativity is a bit of God in each of us. A leader must be creative to move forward and do great and mighty things. It is creativity that leads a leader to be innovative!
- God created man in His image and therefore man is innately creative.
Children possess some aspects of their parents. In the same way, we have some of God’s characteristics. The Bible says that God made us in His image and His likeness.
Man will either use his creativity or not. The world is divided into rich and poor.
Most of the poor sections are populated by people who do not use their God-given creativity. Creativity is seen in the innovations, inventions and ideas that men come up with.
And God said, LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR IMAGE, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So GOD CREATED MAN IN HIS OWN IMAGE, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 1:26-27
- God gave man the authority to finish the work of creation.
Man was so creative that God left the finishing of His creation to man. Man was given the awesome job of labeling and naming the created beings.
And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air; and BROUGHT THEM UNTO ADAM TO SEE WHAT HE WOULD CALL THEM: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature that was the name thereof.
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field…
Genesis 2:19-20
- Unfortunately, men became creators of evil things.
Sometimes, we tend to misuse our power of creation. Men misused the creative power God gave them and began to invent evil things. May you be a leader whose creative powers are directed towards good things. May your followers be blessed by your creativity!
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, INVENTORS OF EVIL THINGS, disobedient to parents,
Romans 1:28-30
- A lack of creativity gives rise to “diminishing returns”.
The returns you get from farming diminish as the years go by. The returns you get from fishing diminish as the years go by and the returns you get from mining also diminish as the years go by. That is why these activities are called “diminishing returns” activities.
When people lack creativity, they are forced to live off the natural resources of their land. This gives rise to farming, fishing and mining as the main activities of the people. These diminishing returns activities eventually give rise to hunger, poverty, migrations and wars. Diminishing returns is recorded in the Bible. In the book of Genesis it is stated that the land could not sustain the people.
For their riches were more than that they might dwell together; and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle.
Genesis 36:7
- A lack of creativity causes poverty.
It is a fact that as time goes by, land yields less and less to its owners. If the land owner depends solely on only what the land yields, he becomes poorer and poorer as the yield reduces. This reality is the reason for several patterns that are seen in human life and experience.
- A lack of creativity gives rise to wars.
Wars between nations, tribes and people groups have often been fought over land.
The servants of Lot got into conflict with the servants of Abraham because the land could not contain them. They fight because they have no way of prospering without acquiring more land or taking the riches of other people. The need for more land for the purposes of farming, mining, etc., has inspired numerous wars. Hitler, for instance, invaded some European nations because he wanted more land.
- A lack of creativity gives rise to migrations.
Large numbers of people migrating in search of greener pastures is evidence of the fact that land yields less as the years go by. This reality has given rise to the nomadic lifestyles of many of the peoples on earth. The Bible has clear examples of how diminishing returns from the land gave rise to migrations. “For their riches were more than that they might dwell together; and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle” (Genesis 36:7).
It is clear that we all need to be creative to go forward! May God help us to tap into His creativity to do well!
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