But David stood fast to his humility till
the day of his death, in a stark contrast to
Saul. It is easy to stay humble in the
beginning days of our ministry, but as years
go by we should be more humble.
Independence or Dependence
Lord Jesus always depended on the
Father. Even though He Himself was God,
he did not do anything on His own (John
8:28). Although, He was given all things by
the Father, He submitted to the will of the
Father (John 3:34,35). He did not say
anything other than what the Father taught
Him to say (John 14:24). Jesus, thus
ended His earthly life and ministry
according to the will and purpose of the
Father. Note what He says during the final
hours before crucifixion:
John 17:4 - “I glorified you on earth,
having accomplished the work that you
gave me to do.”
Let us not seek great things for
ourselves (Jer 45:5). Let us examine our
hearts. Let the cry of the Psalmist be ours:
“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to
your name give glory”(Ps 115:1).
Leader or Servant
There was an occasion in the life of
Jesus Christ when people forced Him to
become king. Look carefully how Jesus
reacted:
John 6:14,15 - “When the people saw
the sign that he had done, they said, “This
is indeed the Prophet who is to come into
the world!”Perceiving then that they were
about to come and take him by force to
make him king, Jesus withdrew again to
the mountain by himself.”
Jesus withdrew from worldly
positions of power and authority. Today,
sadly we find Christians lobbying for posts
even in Christian institutions. How
different was Jesus' style of leadership! He
did not lord over his disciples but
volunteered to wash their feet (John
13:14,15). Let Jesus be our model!
Recently I met a Christian
professional who works for a MNC. He
elucidated how his CEO was friendly with
junior staff and how the middle level
managers allowed junior staff to interact
with the CEO. The atmosphere in the
company created a friendly environment
where everyone can learn new things and
share innovative ideas. This attitude is
sadly lacking in Christian circles.
Sometimes the secular leadership styles
are better than what we see today in many
Christian organizations. There is so much
of back-biting and craving for leadership
positions that it has spoiled the
organizations' environment. We should
understand that everyone likes to be
treated with respect and love. We should
never boss around people. We may be
leaders, but we should never forget that we
are servants. And, we are not 'Great
Servants' of God but 'Servants' of the 'Great
God.'
The disciples of Jesus were crazy
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