Lead Strong: Leadership Lessons From The Bible - Part 2Sample

Leaders Are Made New

Jacob was something alright. He swiped the birthright and blessing from his older brother. Yes, his mother, Rebekah, participated in the scheming, but Jacob knew what he was doing. Soon after, Jacob fled so that his brother would not kill him. Later on in the Jacob and Esau story, there was reconciliation. Jacob could have let his past define him but he did not. I’m sure he had years of regret for what he did to his twin brother.

I can somewhat identify with Jacob. I didn’t steal anything from my brothers or anything. When I was in college, I had difficulty shaking the labels that had been placed on me in my school years. I was just average. Nothing special. Extremely tall. Just an ordinary gal. So, to learn that God wanted to use me for His kingdom and to make His name known, I was surprised. Special people are used by God, not me. Great influencers impact God’s kingdom, not me.

Maybe you, like Jacob, have made choices in your past that still travel with you today. Even as a leader, you still may allow your prior, poor choices to define you. Let Jesus define you. He uses leaders who are broken and repentant in huge ways. Why? Because they know the valley of the shadow of death and can help others walk through it.

You are not your past. You are not your mistakes. You are not labels that people put on you. Instead, you are a child of God who has been bought with the blood of Jesus. His sacrifice was valuable so that makes you valuable. We need to absorb and live by the truth in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that tells us that in Christ, the old has gone and the new has come.

No matter what you’ve walked through in your life, God will make you new. Just like he gave Jacob a new name, He will give you one, too.

By Cindy Beall