Are you putting yourself first in an area of your leadership? (112-3)

It is possible for a leader to have most areas of their leadership life squared away, be successful in virtually everything they touch and still have one area continually out of control. Wise leaders understand that even allowing one area to be out of control will influence their legacy. Read 2 Chronicles 17-20.

King Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king of Judah and reigned in Jerusalem for 25 years. For the most part Jehoshaphat was an outstanding godly leader. Second Chronicles tells us that Jehoshaphat sought the Lord in virtually all areas of his life, had great wealth and honor, became more and more powerful and even the arch enemy of Judah, the Philistines, brought Jehoshaphat gifts and were at peace with him.

Yet twice during his reign as a mostly godly leader of Judah, he made decisions that went directly against God and these became a blight on his leadership legacy. Jehoshaphat suffered from a fundamental flaw: a weakness for unholy alliances.

Even after hearing directly from God’s prophet Micaiah about Ahab (the very ungodly, idol worshiping king of their sister nation to the north, Israel), Jehoshaphat still allied himself with Ahab when he allowed his son Jehoram to marry Ahab and Jezebel’s daughter Athaliah. This act brought decadence and eventually the worship of the false God Baal to the southern kingdom of Judah. This act so angered God that He sent Jehu (a prophet) to Jehoshaphat to tell him that “Because of this, the wrath of the Lord is upon you.”

Later, after Ahab’s death, Jehoshaphat made an alliance with another king of Israel, Ahaziah, to construct a fleet of trading ships. The Lord was again angered and destroyed the ships before they were able to set sail to trade for the first time. Wise, effective leaders understand that there are areas of leadership where there is no room for compromise. Nothing but trouble will come to the godly leader that partners with immoral or deceitful leaders. Any tolerance in these moral areas of leadership will impact every part of your leadership.

Do you find yourself in similar situations to Jehoshaphat where you compartmentalize your obedience to God’s instructions? Can you determine the inner, hidden, deeper, secret core truth in your heart that allows you to put yourself first and God second in these areas? Are you willing to pray about these areas and ask God to show you why you tend to be fully committed to Him in some areas and committed to self in others? Proverbs 15:9-10 (tlb) says, “The Lord despises the deeds of the wicked, but loves those who try to be good. If they stop trying, the Lord will punish them, if they rebel against the punishment, they will die.” See also Psalm 119:1-8, 1Timothy 4:16, and Revelation 3:8.