The Look Of Leadership - Part Five
The Look Of Responsibility
"Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the first fruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine." (Proverbs 3:8-10)
The last characteristic of a Christian leader, is one that very practical, but yet not in the least a non-essential. If there is one thing that brings tension, and disunity in a marriage, a family, a company or community, it is the mishandling of money and material wealth.
As Solomon brings out, it is important to have the right attitude, and right motive in handling our money. Solomon writes that we are to first and foremost, "Honor God with your possessions." We are not to mismanage our money and material goods; we are not to hoard our material goods as in the parable that Jesus told of the rich fool, in Luke 12:13-21. It was a selfish endeavor that this man was involved in. Instead of using the money he had in surplus to help the poor and needy, he held on to it, to flaunt his riches before his neighbors.
A Christian leader must set a a good example of keeping a balance in giving to God, and taking care of individual financial responsibilities as well as for the family. In the material goods that he or she has,
God comes first, and like Abel in Genesis 4, he gave God "the firstlings of his flock and their fat." He gave to God first, the best that he had. Do we do this? Does God come first with what we have? Can this be said of us, that we are good stewards of what we have? I know I need to do better with this, and without a doubt, people are watching how we live our lives, and how we perform, especially with our financial activities.
But we see in Solomon's words here, that there is more than just the exhortation to "Honor God with our possessions." There is also the blessing that comes when we do. God will have "our barns filled with plenty, and our vats will overflow with new wine." In essence Solomon is saying that God will bless us, when we are responsible with what He has given us.
As Christian leaders, if we are to be an example with our lives, as well as our lips, in good financial management, we must discipline ourselves to develop the right attitude, as well as using the right tools God has given us, to show the best leadership in these matters. Some good managerial tools are revealed in Scripture. A verse of Scripture that has a lot of truth in it is Proverbs 22:7 "The rich rules the poor, And the borrower is servant to the lender." Is it wrong to borrow money, I don't believe so, but what this verse brings out, is that there is a responsibility as a servant to pay back what is owned. In establishing good credit, it sets a good foundation for trust and security. All of us need financial help from time to time. But to ignore, or procrastinate in our responsibility to pay back what we owe, is not honoring God, and not honoring the good grace of the lender, in helping us with our financial needs.
The Christian leader must have the look of responsibility. Not just with our money and material goods, but in our spiritual welfare as well.
We must be in God's Word, and prayer on a daily basis. We must relate to others in a Christ-like manner. We must strive to be responsible in all that God calls us to be, and to do. We can't expect those who are in our charge, to be pleasing to the Lord, if we don't light the way for them by our example.
Conclusion. The Look of Leadership from Proverbs 3:5-10 involves:
The Look Of Faith (5)
The Look Of Submission(6)
The Look Of Humility (7)
The Look Of Purity (7b)
The Look Of Responsibility (8-10)
I hope this series "The Look Of Leadership" has been a blessing to you.
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