“To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed:”
-1 Peter 5:1
In this passage Peter is speaking to the leaders. How do we know what a Leader is and even if we are a leader? What does it take to be leader? These are all valid questions, and we will dig into them by looking at Scripture and what the Bible has to say.
Something that a lot of people struggle with is the thought that they are too young to be a leader. Lets take a look at a story from the book of 1 Samuel 16.
In this chapter the Lord sends Samuel out to appoint the new king of Israel, which He has chosen. Samuel follows the Lord’s commands, and travels to go visit Jesse of Bethlehem because the Lord has chosen one of his sons to be the king. When Samuel arrives in Bethlehem, he invites Jesse and his sons to the sacrifice of the Lord, because it is there where the Lord said he was to anoint the one the He has chosen. Samuel had no idea, which son of Jesse was the appointed one, and he naturally assumed that the Lord had appointed Jesse’s son Eliab. Then the Lord said in verse 7:
“Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things that man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
All of Jesse’s sons had passed and the Lord had rejected them all. Samuel asked Jesse if he had any more sons, and Jesse said, “There is still the youngest, but he is tending the sheep.” Samuel told Jesse to call for his son, and they would wait for him. When David arrived, the Lord said,
“Rise and anoint him; he is the one.”
Our society today has labeled a leader as having all of these credentials, and characteristics. You have to be outgoing, you must be good looking, you need to be intelligent. These are all things that the world is forcing on us in order to be an effective leader.
As we learn from this story, these credentials mean nothing. God tells us in verse 7:
“Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things that man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
In order to be an effective leader, you don’t need to consider your appearance, or your age. God calls leaders by what is in their heart. In order to be an effective leader you do need to be hard working, intelligent, and other things, but if your heart isn’t right then its nothing.
Don’t let your age be a barrier in your effectiveness for the kingdom of God. God calls people of all shapes, sizes and ages. God called David the youngest in his family to be the king of Israel! What is God calling you to be?
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”
-1 Timothy 4:12
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