JANUARY 16 • TRUE LEADERSHIP
Character Matters
The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them. Proverbs 11:3
Character is the most important aspect of being a leader. Yes, we start with Intentionality because we need intentionality to accomplish the rest of these leadership principles. But character is the most important factor for any leader or any person. Your character is made up of the qualities of certain traits — honesty, integrity, humility, dependability, work ethic, loyalty, productivity, respectfulness, compassion, authenticity, perseverance, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…
Without the positive effects of these traits, our character is flawed and we can be at different levels of being dishonest, impatient, deceitful, proud, undependable, lazy, disloyal, unproductive, disrespectful, unempathetic, fake, irresolute, hateful, angry, argumentative, impatient, mean, harsh, unfaithful, rash, selfish… whew… Character matters.
God’s character is perfect — we should look to Him and emulate the traits that we can (e.g., we cannot emulate his omnipotence because we cannot be all powerful). God is holy — His greatest attribute. We cannot be perfectly holy on this side of heaven, but we can work at being holy, being righteous (1 Peter 1:16). God cannot lie, so we should be honest! God is patient — we can show patience to all. God is faithful — we can be conscientious, responsible, loyal. God is good! We can be good at our job, we can care for others, we can obey the law. God is merciful — we can show mercy and kindness, love, gentleness and graciousness. God is love… we can love and give to others.
Without these positive traits we can treat people poorly — even without realizing it. And since leadership is all about people, it is imperative that we treat people well. Further, we need to know and love others — especially those we lead — so that we can meet their needs and help them grow. It’s been said that your character is what you do when no one is looking. It’s also what you do when people are looking. We will cover many of these in more detail over the coming days. As we go through each one, rate yourself and define what you should do to display God’s character in that trait. After all, we are made in His image!
Pray: Lord, Help me learn and display your attributes in these character traits!
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