Choosing Leaders and Delegating Authority
All leaders have to learn certain principles or they will not be successful leaders. Moses was new at leading, and he had such a huge multitude of people to lead, that he soon was overwhelmed by trying to meet all of the needs and to judge all of their disagreements. When Jethro, his father-in-law, came and saw the situation, he taught Moses two things that enabled him to be a much better leader for God's people. He taught Moses to choose leaders to work under him and with him. Then, he told Moses that he needed to give them the authority to judge the smaller matters, bringing only the hard decisions to Moses. (Exodus 18:25) This ended up being a blessing for everyone involved, and it still works that way today.
None of us can do everything ourselves. We do not have time, and we are not smart enough to do certain things or capable of doing others. Therefore, when we rise to a position of leadership in which we have many people to lead, we must be able to choose leaders who are spiritually wise and mature enough to lead people and set them over the number of people they are equipped to lead. Of course, we need to help them some with training and accountability, but at the same time, we have to give these leaders the authority to do those things for which they are responsible. If not, we will still be making all of the decisions, and we will just be adding another level of responsibility to ourselves. We have to have enough time to grow in the Lord and be available for the harder things, when the leaders need help. This helps us to be used by God and all of the other leaders, too, so it is good for everyone involved. This was Jethro's advice to Moses, and it is still a prescription for success for all leaders.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 20-22.
None of us can do everything ourselves. We do not have time, and we are not smart enough to do certain things or capable of doing others. Therefore, when we rise to a position of leadership in which we have many people to lead, we must be able to choose leaders who are spiritually wise and mature enough to lead people and set them over the number of people they are equipped to lead. Of course, we need to help them some with training and accountability, but at the same time, we have to give these leaders the authority to do those things for which they are responsible. If not, we will still be making all of the decisions, and we will just be adding another level of responsibility to ourselves. We have to have enough time to grow in the Lord and be available for the harder things, when the leaders need help. This helps us to be used by God and all of the other leaders, too, so it is good for everyone involved. This was Jethro's advice to Moses, and it is still a prescription for success for all leaders.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 20-22.