What value system have you chosen for your life? (129-2)

Leaders have natural leadership skills that may bring them significant recognition during their career but an ongoing legacy that lasts for generations depends on more than their personal skill. Read Psalm 103:15-18.

Some outstanding traits of leadership in the natural are self-confidence, integrity, knowledge and understanding of people, the ability to make decisions, ambition, communication skills, and the ability to delegate yet none of these will guarantee a leader joy in their work or lasting values that create a legacy of happiness for their family. In fact “As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more” (vv. 15-16).

I spent a February working in southern Arizona and when I arrived the cacti were in full bloom. In fact the whole desert had wild grasses and flowering plants everywhere I looked and all were in bloom. Having never been to this part of the country before, it seemed like it took a lot of nerve to call this place a desert. Three days later the Santa Ana winds started blowing out of the south, the humidity dropped to 5%, the temperature was over 100 degrees and within days every flower had disappeared and the grass was brown. That is the picture in Psalm 103 of every leader who relies on their own skill to mark their place in history and have future generations of happy, successful members in their family; it simply won’t last.

What is the value system you have chosen to give your life to? Wise Christian leaders know that “…from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children’s children – with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts” (vv17-18).