The Art Of Leadership By Dag Heward Mills
THROUGH THE influence of Jesus, they laid the foundations of the Christian Church with their very lives.
Most of them died in the process of laying the foundation of the church. Jesus’ amazing leadership turned nonentities into great achievers. The twelve disciples were men who were going nowhere until they met Jesus. Jesus led them until they became anointed and became preachers. Today, many centuries down the line, we still make references to them.
If God has called you to lead, do not see it as just YOU accomplishing great things. See it as an opportunity to help others to accomplish great things for God and for themselves. See it as an opportunity to lead a number of people to great heights! That is a true leader’s heart! Remember that leadership stems from the heart. The Bible teaches us that the heart is the footing for all the things that men do.
No one can really train you to be a leader. It comes from your hear t! “Keep thy hear t with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). It comes by having the right hear t! Do you have the hear t of a leader? When you have the right heart, you do the right things. Until you see the hear t of a leader, you will not be a true leader. If you are the head of a church or organisation and you try to suppress the achievements of others, I assure you that you do not have a true leader’s heart. Jesus wanted his disciples to do greater things than he himself had done (John 14:12).
Every leader should have great goals for the people around him. If you do not have these goals I seriously doubt if you are a leader. I often pray for the junior pastors around me to achieve great things for God. I keep encouraging them and praying for them that they would rise up mightily in ministry.
I see some people with gifts that I do not have. I want my interaction with these people to help them accomplish great things for God.
Goals for Your Followers
- A leader should aim for his followers to do well spiritually. A leader’s desire is that his follower s prosper spiritually.
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
3 John 4
- A leader should aim for his followers to do well financially.
It is my vision that everyone who works in my organization should have his own house, the cars that they need and enough money. Jesus thought about the financial state of his followers. He wanted them to have houses, lands and enough money. Many people don’t know that Jesus actually promised that his followers would have these things.
And Jesus answered and said, ‘Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,
But he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
Mark 10:29,30
- A leader should aim for his followers to do well physically and socially.
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
3 John 2
And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
John 16:23,24
Why did Jesus want the joy of his followers to be full? Because a good leader wants his followers to be happy in every aspect of their lives. A group of discontent followers will surely lead to a distraught leader. Be like Jesus and history will remember your followers as great men.
- Aim for your followers to fulfil their ministry.
My greatest passion is to see the ones I have raised up fulfilling their ministries. Every father wants his sons and daughters to fulfil their ministry. If you are a leader, your vision and passion is not for yourself but for the ones you lead.
But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
2 Timothy 4:5
A leader is someone who thinks about others. He has great hopes for their lives; that they will do well. Help those around you to accomplish great things with their lives. A leader is genuinely concerned about his followers and the people around him.
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