Leaders lead themselves first

A lot of leaders have preached from the pulpit and given advice from the counseling room and then gone out and rejected it with their own actions. The Apostle Paul talks about this idea of self-leadership like this… “I beat my body and make it my slave, so that after preaching to others I myself might not be disqualified” Another way you could say this is… If I discipline myself others won’t have to!  

We have probably all experienced first-hand or in the headlines the leaders who haven’t practiced what they preached and a result they not only hurt themselves, but hurt others and have caused them to fall away. I am always reminded of the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark when he says; “But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck.”  I have tried to let those words be a guide in how I live my life. As a Leader, the choices I make don’t just affect me, but everyone who I am leading or have influence with. 

 The standard for leadership is by no means perfection, however, as leaders we have a responsibility to practice what we preach. Over the years there have been moments where I have found myself leading a ministry or speaking into the lives of others, all the while feeling like a hypocrite because I wasn’t living it myself.  

 As leaders lets be real about our struggles. Let’s have people in our lives we are accountable to. And let’s be careful not to think that our giftings validate our character. Let’s be the kind of leaders who lead by example, who practice what we preach, and who lead ourselves first! 

Matt Moore

Pastor & Author of Intentional Youth Ministry