These Bible Verses About Leadership I am about to share have brought tremendous fruit in my life. My only hope would be that these Scriptures would help, encourage and even surpass my wildest dreams in ministry and leadership for you personally. Jesus is all that we need in order to see the transformation in ourselves and the world around us.
Every leader needs to have a solid foundation of character in order to bear long-term fruit. Without character, everything that we do will only last for a short time. Character in this foundation allows God to build on us for the rest of our lives. The following are Bible verses on some of the key principles of godly leadership:
Leadership Bible Verse #1 – Teachability
Solomon illustrates a strong leader that shows biblical humility in the midst of incredible influence. During the rise of his kingship, he had a dream with God, where God asked Solomon to state whatever he wanted. Solomon responded that he wanted wisdom because Solomon’s motivation was to lead the people of God in the best way possible.
That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. Now, LORD God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?” God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, (2Ch 1:7-11, NIV)
Solomon showed incredible teachability when he asked the Lord for wisdom. It is similar to a child asking his father, “Teach me everything that you know because I want to be a great leader like you.” Not only did God grant Solomon wisdom, but God gave him everything else as well, from money, power, and innovation.
Solomon’s leadership, with the power of God, brought the Israelites to a zenith of authority and prosperity that they still have never experienced again. This was only possible because of the incredible teachability and faith that Solomon possessed. Solomon is a testimony to what is possible with God when we are fully submitted to the teachings of Jesus Christ.
More Bible Verses on Teachability
- Abraham searched for a land he did not know, but he obeyed in faith (Hebrews 11:8-12).
- David’s Psalm on gazing of the beauty of the Lord all the days of his life, even when his enemies were out to kill him (Psalm 27:4).
- Esther becoming a voice for her people even if it means death (Esther 4:12-17).
- Jesus shares the parable of the four types of soil, or the four types of hearts that respond to Jesus in faith or doubt (Mark 4:1-20).
- Jesus would only do what He saw His Father doing (John 5:19).
- Colossians 3:12; Ephesians 4:2; James 4:6; James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:5; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Luke 14:11; Micah 6:8; Proverbs 12:15; Proverbs 15:33; Proverbs 18:12; Proverbs 27:2
Leadership Bible Verse #2 – Repentance
Every great leader will know when they have done wrong before the Lord, and in their genuine wholehearted love to God, they will repent and get on the right path with Jesus again. The more we grow leadership we are given, the faster we must be willing to repent whenever the Holy Spirit reveals to us something that is not aligned with God’s will. A similar scenario occurred with a young king named Josiah.
Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people—that they would become a curse and be laid waste—and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. (2Ki 22:19, NIV)
Josiah was eight years old when he became king. Josiah did not have an easy role as a leader of God’s people. The leaders before him took advantage of the power God gave His people. The prior wicked kings brought back idol worship and further blasphemies towards the Lord. When Josiah became king, he discovered the Book of the Law or their ancient Bible. Josiah wept and mourned when he learned how far the Israelites fell away from the Lord.
Josiah’s immediate response was to learn everything that the Lord revealed in Scripture and to apply it immediately to His Kingdom. The Lord was pleased with Josiah’s teachability as a biblical leader and blessed him for the remaining time that he was a leader over His people.
More Bible Verses on Repentance
- David’s Psalm asking the Lord to search out his heart for any sin (Psalm 139:23-24).
- Peter repented to Jesus after he denied being a follower of Him during the night of His Crucifixion (John 21:15-17).
- Apostle Paul repented for persecuting Christians and for denying that Jesus is the Son of God after he had a powerful encounter with Jesus himself (Acts 9:1-31).
- Moses doubted that God could use him against the most powerful ruler on earth, the Egyptian Pharaoh, but Moses ultimately repented and was later known as the humblest man on earth (Exodus 4:14-18).
- Gideon was afraid to follow the Lord’s will and lead an army against the enemies that have conquered his land. Gideon repented and was victorious with his small, but faithful army of 300 against thousands of enemies (Judges 6:1-24).
- 2 Chronicles 7:14; 1 John 1:9; Proverbs 28:13; Acts 3:19; Matthew 3:8; 2 Chronicles 30:9; Matthew 4:17; James 4:8; Revelation 3:19; Joel 2:13; Luke 15:7
Leadership Bible Verse #3 about Faithfulness
One of the strongest attributes of a leader is their faithfulness to God. Without faith, they will not be able to please the Lord, and effectively lead God’s people. They will not also be able to see what the Lord’s will is and execute it. Noah was a man of faith that had to believe in what he heard the Lord tell him to do, even though everyone else said he was crazy.
This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. (Gen 6:9-22, NIV)
There were less than a dozen people on the earth during Noah’s time that followed the commands of the Lord. Everyone else was filled with tremendous wickedness of this time. Even angels, or demons, would come and make babies with the women of earth. This was an incredible act of wickedness against God’s people, His image-bearers. Noah was the only person that faithfully walked with God, so the Lord spared him, and used him as one of the remaining leaders of his time to restore the land.
Noah had to believe and do something he never had any concept or past experience. During this time, there had never been rain. The Lord was asking Noah to make a giant boat for animals and his family to live on as the entire earth was flooded. The Lord also gave Noah a Master Blueprint of how to build the Ark. It took Noah more than a hundred years to finish what the Lord instructed him to do.
More Bible Verses on Faithfulness
- The parable of the minas shows how faithfulness with a small amount of money can result in being promoted to leading ten cities (Luke 19:17).
Jesus shared the parable of faith being like a mustard seed, it can start out as the smallest seed but become the largest plan when its stewarded (Luke 17:6). - Jesus shares that he can’t do anything because there is so much doubt, the opposite of faith (Matthew 13:58).
- Daniel remained faithful to the Lord by consecrating himself and fasting from the Pagan lifestyle of the Babylonians (Daniel 1:12).
- Deborah was faithful to war even if she never went to war before. The commander of the army refused to go to battle, so Deborah took his place and was victorious (Judges 4:8-9).
- Isaiah 25:1; Galatians 5:22-23; Romans 12:12; Psalm 138:2; Psalm 100:4-5; Isaiah 42:3-4; 2 Timothy 4:7-8; 1 Timothy 1:12; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; Romans 8:28; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Psalm 37:28
Leadership Bible Verse #4 – Fear of the Lord
Every leader aspiring to walk in the ways of the Lord should know the Bible verse that says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Pro 9:10). The fear of the Lord is important to have as a leader because it is important to know that no matter what happens in life, God is God and that’s final. A character in the Bible named Job learned this in a very powerful way.
Then Job replied to the LORD: “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. (Job 42:1-6, NIV)
Job was an obscure case in the Bible. He was a righteous man that Satan, the accuser, brought before God in the courts of heaven, in order to prove that mankind, God’s chosen creation, will always fall short in loving God. God was so confident in Job, that He allowed Satan to tempt Job with persecution, disease, tragedy and more, but the only thing that the devil couldn’t do was kill Job. Within the first few chapters of the Book of Job, Job lost everything; his wealth, his family, reputation, everything, but Job did not lose his faith and teachability to God.
During the course of the story, Job is finally confronted by God, and Job couldn’t help but ask why all these bad things happened to him. God, however, did not answer Job the way he thought He would. God basically explained how Holy and powerful he was and never gave a reason why all these terrible things happened. The moral of the lesson isn’t found in why
God did what he did, but it is more in the revelation of how Job remained teachable to God, the creator of the whole universe. In the end, Job repented for doubting God, and God, in return, restored even more blessings to Job than he had before.
Job lived the incredible story of how a man can suffer through many things, but in the end, he still had so much teachability towards God. It also shows God will bless those who remain teachable and faithful to Him despite whatever circumstances or hardships they might experience. Leaders often experience struggle and hardship, especially in their sphere of influence. Job is a great example of a leader that has fully surrendered his rights and is willing to follow God regardless of difficulty or fame.
More Bible Verses on the Fear of the Lord
- God told Moses to not look at His face because no one could see God’s face, or they would die because He is so holy (Exodus 33:20).
Ezekiel encountered the holiness of God before he was commissioned to be a mighty prophet of the Lord during the invasion of Babylon (Ezekiel 1:25-28). - Isaiah was a prophet of God who saw the holiness of God and began mourning about the wickedness that surrounded his whole life. A mighty angel cleansed Isaiah’s lips and God used him as a powerful messenger in the Ancient Days. (Isaiah 6:1-9)
- Joseph was given a chance to commit adultery with Pharaoh’s wife, but Joseph refused, because of his reverence for God (Genesis 39:6-10).
- Ananias and Sapphira were killed by the Holy Spirit because they lied about stealing money during a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts (Acts 5:1-11).
- Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 8:13; Matthew 10:28; Ecclesiastes 12:13; Proverbs 14:27; Isaiah 41:10; Deuteronomy 10:12; Psalm 25:14; Proverbs 14:26; Proverbs 19:23; Psalm 86:11; Proverbs 3:7; Luke 1:50; 1 John 4:18
Final Bible Verse for Leaders
I hope these bible verses about leadership will help encourage and guide you to a fruitful life of serving God in the same way that it helped mine. The Bible has an infinite amount of resources to help us with our personal relationship with Jesus. The last key verse that I always kept in my heart was the following:
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jer 29:13, NIV)
No matter how tough life gets, how lost you might feel or how unqualified you might feel for the job, always remember that when you wholeheartedly seek God in any circumstance, you will find Him. The Bible has never failed to uphold its promises from Jesus. God has the same path for you as well.
Learn more Bible verses about leadership here.
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