Nehemiah 1:3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”
Nehemiah is a great leadership book! We see amazing leadership principles throughout the book of Nehemiah and see God use him to accomplish the great task of rebuilding the broken down walls of Jerusalem. Leaders like to get things done, but don’t miss that this book is something bigger then just a construction project…it is a book about people! What makes Nehemiah such a great leader is that his heart broke for the people, and that drove him to action. The people were in “great trouble and shame,” and if we ask God to open our eyes and look around, we will see that there are still many people today all around us that are in “great trouble and shame”.
If you have been in leadership for any amount of time, you have probably felt the pressure to put the priority of a project over people’s needs to try to accomplish the task at hand. I can often be so task driven that I forget that I am doing certain projects for people to serve and love them. We must remember, as servants of Jesus, that He wants us to love and serve people. This is part of the great task God calls us to do. Leaders want to get stuff done, but we should never put aside the greatest project of all: loving people and leading them to Jesus who can restore and redeem all things.
How can you love some of the people you lead today?