Basic HTML Version
there are none more important to
develop than wisdom and under–
stand ing. Me n and women of
dynamic personality, great educa–
tion and charisma are not necessari–
ly qualified to assume leadership
roles. Yet when we think of leader–
ship we most often think of person–
al appearance, great voice, a fine
mind, dynamic personality.
In ancient Israel the people
demanded a king to rule them
( 1
Samuel
8:5).
They wanted to be
like the other nations. So God let
them have Saul- a tall, handsome
man of charisma. The results werc
traumatic. Saul lacked the most
important quality of leadership–
confidence in God. Saul was afraid
of what people would say. So he
departed from the ways of God that
would have preserved tranquility
and the nation grcatly suffered.
Then God selected David, a man
after his own heart (Acts 13:22), to
be king. After the death of David,
his son Solomon became king.
There is no better example to
illustrate these important qualities
of wisdom and understanding than
thc cxample of King Solomon. The
rcsponsibility of kingship should
havc been and was regarded by Sol–
omon as awesome.
At the beginning of his reign,
God appeared to him in a vision
and asked , "What shall
1
give
you?" Most human beings given
this opportunity would ask for
wealth, power, long life, good
health. Solomon asked for none of
these.
H is requesl was: "Now, O Lord
my God, You have made Your ser–
vant king instead of my father
David, but
1
am a little child;
1
do
not know how lO go out or come in.
And Your servant is in the midst of
Your people whom You have chos–
en, a great peoplc, too numerous to
be numbered or counted. T herefore
give to Your servant
an under–
standing heart
to j udge Your
people, that 1 may discern between
good and evil" ( 1 Kings 3:5-9,
Revised A u thorized Yersion
throughout).
That must be one of the most
unusual requests in history. God
was so pleased wilh it that he gave
Solomon the asked -for wisdom
and underslanding. In fact, he was
wiser than anyone of his day ( 1
September 1984
Kings 4:31 ). In all probability,
apart from J esus Christ, there has
never lived a wiser person than
Solomon.
Then God added, in addition to
wisdom and understandi ng, pros–
perity and good health .
The key to his successful leadcr–
ship, though, was understanding. A
greal leader has to be able lo
understand people.
And the best source of under–
standing is the Word of God . Solo–
mon wrote the book of Proverbs so
we might "know wisdom and
instruction, to perceive the words
of underslanding, to receive the
learn lessons and press forward.
1 read a statement many years
ago that has given me a great deal
of hope through life's frequent
trials-"He is a success who does
the right thing
51
percent of the
time."
Or as someone else said, "The
only ones who never fail are the
ones who never try."
Those of you who are parents
might well rcflcct on teaching your
children that admirable quality of
courage. To be able to step out and
do-and to take the correction that
comes from making a mistake.
Then get up and try again.
The key to successful leadership is
understanding. A great
leader has to be able to uoderstand people.
inst ruction of wisdom" (Prov. 1:2-
3).
Of special note he said, "The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of
knowledge" (verse
7).
There is no
permanence in any other system of
val
u
es.
Courage t o Be a Leader
After unders tanding, another qual i–
ty a Jeader musl possess is courage.
Leaders are nol actors on a stage.
An actor puts on, plays, a role. A
Jeader
is.
After the play, the actor
goes home to his real everyday
world. The leader is at all times
living real situations.
Those who lead will always make
sorne mistakes. With mistakes
comes a spate of criticism.
lt
takes
courage to put up with the cri tics.
But a reaJ leader has to have the
ability to put aside the mistakes,
Perhaps the lessons of history
will best bear this out. We have
been living in civi lized societies for
nearly
6,000
years. In the course of
human events, countless mistakes
have been made. Thus, the study of
the past, to learn lessons from his–
tory, is imperative for any Jeader.
It has often been said those who
do not learn from mistakes of the
past are doomed to repeat them.
Those who do learn those lessons
can in confidence step out with cour–
age, stand for right principie and
lead humanity to greater heights.
With this quality there is hope for
leadership in the years to come.
Vision f o r t he Future
Another of the impor tant qualities
a leader must possess is vision. One
who leads must see beyond the
19