Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.” John 8:54 (NKJV) The world desperately needs more leaders—the kind who develop genuine relationships with others to help bring out the best in those they influence. In fact, you are designed to be this kind of leader. According to Tom Marshall’s book, Understanding Leadership, to develop the kind of relationships necessary, there are four essential building blocks. Yesterday we discussed the first: trust. Today we will cover two more: care and respect. Care is essential in developing great relationships. It’s difficult to form a relationship with someone if they don’t think you care. They need to be shown that you’re …

For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man. 2 Corinthians 8:21 (NIV) Over the past few days we’ve been discussing leadership. We’ve established that we are all capable of being leaders, since leadership is influence. We all want to be able to influence others, especially when it’s for their own benefit because we have something to share that will help them. We discussed yesterday how you can’t influence someone if all you have is the task or end result in mind. You need to take the whole person into consideration—their hopes, dreams and desires, what they enjoy and their sense of purpose. You also need to build a …

You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Matthew 20:25–26 (NIV) Are you in leadership anywhere in your life? Before you answer, consider former American President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s definition of leadership: “The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” Parents, teachers and older siblings fall under this definition of leadership. Actually, we all do. Who hasn’t tried to motivate someone to do something? What’s interesting about President Eisenhower’s definition is he recognized that leaders need to be concerned with motivating those they’re influencing to want to take action. If you don’t care about what people want as you lead, you …

Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave. Matthew 20:26–27 (NIV) Every person on this planet has been given the potential to be an incredible leader, no matter what their personality type. In fact, we are all called to lead. As John Maxwell puts it, leadership is just influence. We all have the opportunity to influence others. In fact, as Christians, we have both the responsibility and the amazing opportunity to influence others for Jesus. The problem is, few people think of themselves as leaders. Many assume leadership comes with a title, but that’s not true. In fact, titles are often a detriment to leadership. Titles tend to have a strange influence on …

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8 (NIV) There is a popular saying that goes something like this: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” It’s true. Love changes things. When you know that someone loves you, their advice is received differently than if you think they don’t care. Even if you don’t agree with everything they say, you know that their intentions are good because they love you. Love also covers over a multitude of sins. I’m not saying that love condones sin, but when you love someone, you need to choose to be quick to forgive because you value the relationship. Being quick to forgive doesn’t mean …