Learning to Lead Like JesusSample

Learning to Lead Like Jesus with Love

Jesus Was Loving

Jesus was love and He modeled love. He extended compassionate love to sinners who were aware of their sin but unaware of God’s forgiveness. He also dished out tough love to the religious establishment who were unaware of their sin but expecting God’s approval. Christ’s love was holistic. He fed and healed bodies, and he healed the brokenhearted by forgiving their sin and teaching them how to follow Him.

What Makes a Loving Leader?

“The first job of leadership is to love people. Leadership without love is manipulation.”

—Rick Warren

First, a loving leader emphasizes God’s love.

My grandmother always had a way of encouraging me, but also challenging me to become better. One such occasion was in my junior year in college. I had just given what I thought was a pretty good sermon at the evening church service. She greeted me with the smile of a proud grandparent, hugged my neck, left a smudge of beige makeup on my collar, and said, “Son, that was a good sermon, but you need to talk more about God’s love. You can’t talk too much about the Lord’s love.”

Now at 57, I’m still trying to talk more about the Lord’s love. She was so right. All these years of experiencing the Lord’s lavish love have motivated me and empowered me to love others well.

We are called by Christ to love with a love not of this world. It is a love that can only be explained by an encounter with Almighty God. His transforming power positions His disciple to love on His behalf. The parting words of our Savior presented a new, radical love language for His disciples: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). Jesus’s command is the best motivation for leaders to love well! So, show God’s love by helping others, and spread God’s love by speaking to others in the name of Jesus.

 A Point to Ponder: We are loved by the Lord to love for the Lord.

Additionally, a loving leader learns patience. Patience has a calming effect on everyone under its influence. Impatience does just the opposite. A person huffs and puffs until everyone knows he’s unhappy, for not getting his way. Thankfully, love lengthens the fuse of patience.

Love builds capacity to care about what another person might be experiencing. Love looks behind the angry face to see the hurting heart, and then shows mercy to the person who may be crying out for help.

Questions for Reflection...

• Are you aware of how you are loved by your Heavenly Father, so that it instills peace, comfort, and security into your heart?


• How does the Lord see you as His child?


• Is your identity based on God’s love for you, or on other inferior, distorted, and undependable loves?


• How does Christ’s love help you grow a heart of wisdom?