Matters of the Heart: Guide its Direction
Issue #411, November 12, 2025 Healthy leaders understand that their heart shapes everything they do. They pay attention to their emotions—not to be ruled by them, but to guide them in the right direction. Great leaders don’t suppress emotions; they shepherd them. Our heart can be guided in the right direction. Consider these scriptures: […]
#363 Let’s Talk Money: Secure It
November 29, 2023 In the previous issue we looked at how serving leaders surrender money, seeing themselves as stewards of the financial resources entrusted to them. The second principle that guides serving leaders in relation to money is focused on how they get, or secure, money. Serving leaders recognize that without money, they cannot accomplish […]
#356 Timothy: Learning Self-Control
August 23, 2023 As he developed his leadership capacity one of the areas that Timothy needed to learn was the discipline of self-control. Consider these instructions from Paul to the young leader: I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you […]
#336 Serving with Authority: Respect It
October 26, 2022 Serving leaders, like all leaders, have and use authority. Authority is the legitimate power that gives them the right to act in their role as a leader. But many serving leaders may find the subject of authority a bit awkward. Is authority good or bad? How does it fit with the concept […]
The Sound of Silent Leadership…in Conversation
February 19, 2020 Recall the last conversation you had with a close friend. Who did most of the talking, you or the friend? Did the one who talked the most have more influence? We usually think that the person who talks most in the conversation has the most influence. This is true sometimes, but not […]
Leading with Grace: Live it.
November 27, 2019 Servant leaders receive God’s grace as we saw in the previous issue. They acknowledge their need of grace and begin their journey with Jesus. That journey requires learning to live by grace. As Paul reminds us: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, […]
Speaking the Truth, without Anger
When we are angry, we usually open our mouths! And what comes out is not usually very loving, especially when we have been deeply hurt. Paul challenges us to speak “the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). This is a difficult challenge when we are angry. But Paul goes on to make it very clear that […]
The Leader and Emotion: Vengeance
When someone has opposed your leadership, have you ever wished you could just hit them in the face? Or, knowing that action doesn’t sound very Christian, did you wish God would do the same? Every leader has moments when the natural response is to take revenge and see someone else suffer. David certainly had these […]
The Leader and Emotion: Joy
David experienced much pain and difficulty in his life, but he also experienced deep and sustaining joy, some of which he expressed in Psalm 33. 1 Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. 2 Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. 3 Sing […]
The Leader and Emotion: Anger
David is known as “a man after God’s own heart” for many reasons. But I believe that one of the reasons is because he was able to appropriately express to God a wide range of emotions. We’ll look at some of David’s emotions from the book of Psalms and consider what they mean for leaders. […]