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We have to have some good leaders out there.

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We've got to be developing great leaders.

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And I think that's why Paul made that

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one of his highest goals.

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Today, I'm talking about Kingdom of God Principles

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on Leadership from the Apostle Paul.

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So I've talked about Jethro, I've talked about Jesus.

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And today I want to talk about Paul.

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And I want you to look, if you have a Bible,

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it's 2 Timothy 2, 1 through 7.

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2 Timothy 2, 1 through 7.

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In my opinion, this is one of the best passages

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on leadership where Paul writes to Timothy

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about how to raise up leaders in the church.

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And Paul models this in an extravagant and powerful way

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throughout his whole ministry.

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When you look at Paul's ministry in the Book of Acts,

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you especially see him going from city to city,

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village to village, province to province,

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taking men with him.

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He's always got these guys with him,

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these disciples that he's working with.

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And then in many cases, like Silas and Timothy and others,

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he leaves them behind with a newly planted church.

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They raise up leaders that then become the leaders

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of that church.

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And then those guys go on to plant other churches.

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So it's very systematic form of leadership that's amazing.

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But he encapsulates his passion and his understanding

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of how God wants him to raise up leaders

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in 2 Timothy 2, 1 through 7.

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I'm gonna read the whole thing

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and then we're gonna break it down into some principles

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that I hope are helpful to us.

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You, therefore, my son, he's writing to Timothy,

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be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

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Verse two, and the things that you've heard from me

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among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men

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who will be able to teach others also.

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You, therefore, must endure hardship

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as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

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No one engaged in warfare entangles himself

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with the affairs of this life,

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that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.

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And also, if anyone competes in athletics,

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he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

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Verse six, the hardworking farmer

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must be the first partaker of the crops.

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Consider what I say and may the Lord give you understanding

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in all things.

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So Paul's principles on leadership.

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He starts off with saying this,

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you, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace

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that is in Christ Jesus.

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So I would say, first of all, as Paul looked at leadership,

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he was looking at it from the perspective

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of gifting and grace.

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In other words, not everybody is anointed

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with the gift of leadership, but many are.

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Now, let me just say this, everybody leads.

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Everybody leads in some way, shape, or form.

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I mean, if you're taking the trash out

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and you have a little brother, you're leading

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because somebody's watching you.

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If you're a mother and you are nursing your baby,

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there's leadership in that.

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You're taking care of someone.

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They're following you, they're with you.

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So everything in life has some kind

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of a leader-follower concept.

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What I'm talking about here, though,

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is that gift of leadership,

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that anointing sovereignly given by God

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for someone to lead.

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So he starts with grace and we go to Romans 12.6,

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also written by Paul, having then gifts differing

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according to the grace that is given to us.

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So Paul says here, and then he says in Romans,

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that there are certain gifts that are given,

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sovereignly given by God, according to his knowledge

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and his wisdom, and here's the most important,

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his purpose for one's life.

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So when I speak of kingdom principles of leadership,

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I'm speaking of those that are called to be leaders,

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and not everybody's called to a position of rulership

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or a position of leadership the way Paul

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is defining it here.

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But he's speaking here that there are grace gifts,

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some have called it gracelets, that's given to everyone.

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Everybody has a spiritual gift.

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Most people have many spiritual gifts

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with there being a primary spiritual gift.

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So the first thing in leadership from Paul's perspective

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is does this person have a gift of leadership?

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Is there grace on them for leadership?

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And the question you're gonna ask is,

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well, how do I know if I'm gifted toward leadership or not?

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Well, I would push back and say,

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well, do you have a desire?

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Do you have a desire?

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If you have a desire to be a leader,

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there's probably a gift, a latent gift of leadership in you

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that may or may not have been developed.

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And so let me make a differentiation though

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between talent and gifts.

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So I believe the spiritual gifts that we find

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in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12,

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referenced in an indirect way here,

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all throughout scripture,

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we can even go to passages in the Old Testament

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that appear to be about spiritual gifts,

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are sovereignly given by God when we're born again.

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When we give our heart to Christ,

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there is a gift from the Holy Spirit,

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many gifts in my opinion,

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but there's a primary gift of leadership.

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gift that God gives everyone. Everybody has that. Now what are talents? In my

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opinion, talents are what we call natural talents and spiritual gifts.

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There's a difference. You are born as a human being in the image of God with

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natural talents that may or may not have anything to do with your spiritual gifts.

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So you may have someone who's naturally talented athletically, someone

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who's naturally talented to work on a computer, naturally talented to be a

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lawyer. I mean there's natural talents related to the sovereign work of

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God in placing that either genetically through one's background all the way

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down to the environment in which they're raised. There's natural talents. Now

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there's actually a third category which I covered in another episode that we did

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not on this one but on another one on leadership what I would call acquired

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skills. So there's spiritual gifts, there's natural talents, and there's

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acquired skills. How do these work? Well you're born with natural talents. You come

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to know Christ, you begin to discover your spiritual gifts. With your natural

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talents, your spiritual gifts, what you do with what you've been given is what I

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call acquired skills. So if you have a passion for engineering and you then go

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to school to perfect this desire you have to be an engineer, that's getting an

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acquired skill. Same in leadership. You have a desire to be a leader. You desire

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to grow as a leader. So then you start going to seminars on leadership. You

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start putting yourself in a position to have to lead. That's developing skills.

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Those skills are developed through your effort and through the power of the

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Spirit working through your effort. So it's always in a cooperation. But here

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Paul seems to be indicating as he begins his his admonition to Timothy, look this

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is how you develop leaders. First thing, be strong in God's grace and gifting. And

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Timothy, I see leadership in you. Be strong in that. Be strong in the calling

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on your life. In Romans 12 6 I read before, having then given gifts according

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to the grace that is given us, but then two verses later he says this, he who

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exhorts in exhortation. He who gives with liberality. And then listen to this, he

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says he who leads with diligence. So that so leadership is a spiritual gift

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actually in the list of spiritual gifts. And the Greek word for lead here has the

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meaning to be set before or over others. To be a protector and to be a guardian

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over others. And someone said and it's always been the definition I've used when

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people have asked me about a definition for leadership. I've heard John Maxwell

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say leadership is influence. And that's that's it. And that I always think this

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the shorter definition is probably more right. But the one I've used is one who

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knows where he's going and can motivate others to follow him. So a leader is one

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who knows where he's going and can motivate others to follow him. So a

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person can know where they're going but they can't motivate anybody to follow

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them. That's not a leader. That's probably someone who's got a great vision for

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their life. Nothing wrong with that. But a leader is one who knows where they're

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going. They have a vision for that. And then through conversation, through

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motivation, through inspiration, they cause others to want to come along on

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that vision. That's a leader. John Maxwell says it's influence which it is. I'm

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saying it's it's knowing where you're going. It's it's it's having the

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influence as it were with others for them to want to follow you as a leader.

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Everything, everything in life rises and falls on leadership. So when you see a

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company going under, bad leadership. You see a store going under, going bankrupt,

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bad leadership. You see a government going under, being taken over by another

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nation, probably bad leadership. You see a nation that's flourishing, there's good

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leadership there. You see a company that's flourishing, it's probably good

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leadership there. You see a church that's growing, having an impact, there's

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probably good leadership there. You show me a good marriage and I'll show you

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someone in that couple or in that family who's a good solid leader. So everything,

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everything in life rises and falls on leadership. So that's why men and women,

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we have to have some good leaders out there. We've got to be developing great

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leaders. And I think that's why Paul made that one of his highest goals was that

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he was going to develop leaders. And so let me give you some characteristics of

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people who have the gift of leadership. These are people who I see who have the

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gift of leadership. Number one, they recognize that their position is by God's

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appointment, not man's.

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have a person, a human, who gives you a position

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of leadership, but a spiritual leader,

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one with the gift of leadership,

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recognizes God's behind that.

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God's the one that, indirectly or directly,

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is speaking to that leader to give them

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that position of leadership.

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Number two, they realize they've been given

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an important stewardship, and that's a huge word

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to me, personally, about leadership,

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is recognizing that God has given you a stewardship,

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and the stewardship is human capital.

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The stewardship is human capital.

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It's what we do with people that makes us

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a good, bad, or great leader,

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and so it's stewarding people well.

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It's putting people in the right place,

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at the right time, in the right way,

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that they can have the most powerful impact they can have.

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I see that at the road, in my ministry.

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I see that in my family.

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I wanna see each one of the individuals

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that are within my scope of leadership find their way,

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discover their calling, and that I get to be a part

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of the, maybe, catalytic converter that helps them

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get directed and empowered to reach their full potential

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and their destiny.

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Number three, they know that they must be led

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and directed by the Holy Spirit.

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A spiritual leader, a godly leader,

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is someone who knows they don't have all the answers,

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they do not have all the wisdom, but God does,

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and so they're a seeker after God.

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They're continually growing, continually seeking God

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for wisdom on decisions that need to be made.

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Number four, the truly anointed leader knows

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he or she is simply a servant of the Lord.

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So Paul continually called himself a servant of the Lord,

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and he also called himself a bondservant of the Lord,

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which means like a legal slave of God.

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He saw himself as a servant of the Lord.

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And so this kind of a leader, a true spiritual leader,

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doesn't lead so that other people will serve them.

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He leads, or she leads,

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so that he or she can serve her people.

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So it's a servant leadership role,

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and that's so vitally important.

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So as Jesus said, I did not come to be served,

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but to serve and to give my life a ransom for many.

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That's what leaders do.

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Spiritual leaders, godly leaders, Christian leaders

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are men and women who give their life

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to those that are serving with them,

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not for them, but with them,

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and they choose to serve,

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even try to out-serve their own people.

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And then fifthly, the main responsibility of leadership

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as modeled and expressed by Paul

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is the empowerment of new leaders.

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So leadership's not just a position appointed by God.

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It's not just a stewardship.

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It's not just being directed and led by the Holy Spirit.

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It's not just being a servant of the Lord,

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but it's also raising up other leaders.

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And in the next episode,

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I wanna talk about how Paul shows us in this passage

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how to raise up other leaders around us

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so that we have a multiplicational leadership style

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that is empowering others.

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♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪

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♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪