Leadership

At this present moment I am discipling a new Christian.  It is an amazing thing that God has me being a part of.  I  get to see him grow and mature in his faith.  I also get to help him deal with struggles that are a part of his life.  This bond between us grows stronger each day as Christian brothers and as friends.  What if I were to suddenly become engulfed in self.  What if I were to take money from the offering plate at church and he is sitting next to me.  Or what if when we were riding to Joplin I would have flipped off one of the drivers who had cut me off.  What would my friend's reaction had been to that?

In 1 Samuel chapter 8 it talks about this very thing.  The leaders appointed over Israel were doing evil.  They began taking bribes and perverting justice (3).  And in doing so it cause the people to sin.  They turned away from God.  See at this point in time there where judges in the land and the judges would look to God when trouble would rise.  In doing so there comfort would be in the Lord rather than their leader.  However in this day they began to want a king.  They trusted not in the LORD God. (20).  Though they were sinning they were honest in their efforts.  For their leaders they could not trust to guide them unto the LORD or show them the correct path to walk (5).

Today let us walk in a manner worthy in which we have been called.  This passage may seem as if it were for a great leader but in fact these were Samuels sons. We are all leaders.  And in that we must all live each step of life guided by the Father in heaven.  I charge you to take each step in faith depending on the Savior for all your needs, remembering there are those, kids, youth, adults, who are watching the decisions we make and the outcome of each.  Let us not be the ones that lead others astray but let us ground them stronger in our God we trust in.  For Paul wrote in the spirit if it where for us even to stop eating meat we must do it to grow another in Christ that they might glorify His name.  That means rather than doing what we want and sacrificing their faith we must sacrifice our lives to do what it takes to grow their faith.