It is important to follow Scriptures on Leadership for anyone wanting to make a difference in their sphere of influence. There are many opinions, teachings, books and principles that are ready and available for anyone that searches for them online, but the Bible is the number one source of what effective leadership is all about. We can all make a difference as a leader, but we may not all leave an eternal impact. For us to make an impact that echoes into eternity, we must obey what the Lord says about leadership in the first place.

Leadership Scripture #1 – Multiplication

Godly leaders will train up more godly leaders; this is called multiplication. Jesus modeled this natural relational process with His disciples. Jesus’ disciples then modeled this to the newly formed Church in the Book of Acts.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Act 2:42-47, NIV)

The Apostles modeled multiple attributes of a biblical leader in these verses. To name a few, they taught on generosity, evangelism, fellowship, worship, prayer, ministry, Bible study and more. Yet, the one thing that the Apostles did exceptionally well as they constantly multiplied more leaders. We see this because the number of those being saved increased daily.

The multiplying factor for all movements is the training of more leaders. In everything that we do, we should always be looking for more people that potentially can be trained up as future leaders. Another important attribute you want to look for is individuals that have the ability to train other leaders, not just followers. The difference between leaders and followers is that leaders will add more people to the movement, while a follower will not add anyone but themselves.

Often, this attribute of Jesus teaching his disciples how to identify leaders and not followers is an overlooked trait. This is one of the reasons why Jesus specifically chose twelve people to focus on. One reason was time and investment, another was that these individuals were destined to multiply. While they may not have known it in the beginning, Jesus told Peter and Andrew, “You will no longer be a fisher of fish, but a fisher of men.” In other words, Peter and Andrew would find and bring multitudes of men/people to the Lord.

More Scriptures on Multiplication

1. Paul teaching the Church of Corinth that they have many teachers, but not many fathers, so he insisted on the Church to imitate him (1 Corinthians 4:15).
2. David was secluded in the Cave of Adullam with the rejects of society. Instead of judging them, he trained them up to be the infamous Mighty Men of David (2 Kings 2:11-14).
3. Elijah, a powerful prophet of God, was taken up to heaven by a fiery chariot, but he left a double impartation to a faithful and hungry apprentice named Elisha (2 Kings 2:11-14).
4. Barnabas, known as the Son of Encouragement, was the first Apostle to encourage Saul, the Christian killer. Afterwards, Saul, also known as Apostle Paul, became a powerful leader in the Church. Saul is also responsible for writing two-thirds of the New Testament (Acts 9:26-31).
5. Jesus was preparing His Apostles to become leaders. Jesus taught them that they would do greater works than Jesus himself, mainly by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 14:12-14).
6. Acts 2:41; Act 4:4; Acts 5:14; Acts 11:21; Act 12:24, Act 13:48-49, Act 19:18-21; Acts 16:5; 2 Timothy 2:15; John 13:35; Luke 10:1; Romans 1:1; Matthew 10:1

Leadership Scripture #2 – Visionary

Vision plays a big part in being an effective godly leader. Whenever the Lord called a leader in the Bible, He also envisioned them with a purpose. One of the reasons why the Apostles would do greater works than Jesus, is because Jesus gave the Apostles a vision greater than themselves. Before they met Jesus, their greatest vision was working as a fisherman paying the bills for the family. After they met Jesus, their vision became to reach the entire world with Gospel. Jesus increased their vision.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.  (Act 1:8, NIV)

The great news about big visions is that God gives all of us big visions through Scriptures. These giant purposes were not only for the destiny of His Apostles, but they were given to the entire Church until the return of Jesus. Studying and applying what Scripture says about Jesus’ global purpose for the church is the first step in living out a lifestyle, fueled by the same heartbeat God has. When the Apostles took hold of this, they were unstoppable in the Book of Acts, all the way through the end of the Bible.

While many of the disciples were being intimidated and fled during the crucifixion of Jesus, after the Holy Spirit, the Apostles were being persecuted, exiled, tortured and sent to the ends of the earth, with great success. One of the major reasons why this happened is because they now took responsibility for the purpose God gave them as leaders to the world.

The Great Commission is for the whole Church, not just for the select few. The more we meditate on the vision of the Lord and stop ourselves from only doing what we can understand, the moment we move into faith and not doubt; that’s the moment that we enter into visions far greater than our most grandiose dreams.

More Scriptures on Vision

1. Jeremiah was a young man, but the Lord told him in a vision to not let his age discourage him, for he was called to be a prophet to the nations before he was in his mother’s womb (Jeremiah 1:4-10).
2. Moses was envisioned to let his people go. In the course of his life, he went from shepherding sheep in the wilderness to leading over a million people (Exodus 12:37).
   Solomon was given a clear vision on how he should build the House of the Lord during his reign as king (1 Kings 6:1-6).
3. Apostle Paul had divinely envisioned himself in going to all the places that the Gospel was not present. Paul was living during the time when the Israelites were the only ones that knew the Good News (Romans 15:20).
4. Nehemiah had the vision to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem when they were broken down after the Babylonians had conquered their kingdom (Nehemiah 2:3-6).
5. 1 John 3:8; Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 8:28; Proverbs 16:4; 1 Peter 2:9; Psalm 138:8; Ecclesiastes 3:1; Proverbs 19:21; Isaiah 46:10; Job 42:2; Exodus 9:16; Ecclesiastes 12:13; Ephesians 1:4-5; Revelation 4:11

Leadership Scripture #3 – Missions

The Good News of Jesus is transferred into the Great Commission for the rest of the Church to take leadership in for the rest of the world. In any way that God gives us any type of resource, influence or authority, we are to use it to spread His glory all across creation.

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.  (Rev 7:9, NIV)

Every leader in the body of God will hold some responsibility for the fulfillment of the Great Commission. This responsibility is on a personal, local and global scale. The gifts, talents, and skills that God gives each of us, are supposed to be used to establish His Kingdom in every sphere of influence that we have.

More Scriptures on Missions

1. The first and original mission given to mankind was for them to be fruitful, multiply and rule over the earth. This is a similar mandate of the Great Commission (Genesis 1:28).
2. The Great Commission to make disciples of all nations, baptize them and teach them to obey the commands of the Lord. This is seen in multiple places of Scripture (Mark 16:15-18; Matthew 28:18-20).
3. Paul teaches his disciples, Timothy, to ready to preach the Word in and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2).
4. God desires that all would come to repentance and that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9).
   The end result of all these missions from God is that every tongue, tribe and nation, would be with Him for eternity (Revelation 7:9).
5. Acts 13:47; Romans 10:13-14; Matthew 24:14; 1 Chronicles 16:23-24; Revelation 14:6; Psalm 96:3; John 20:21; Isaiah 52:7; Luke 24:47; Psalm 105:1; Proverbs 11:30; Isaiah 12:4; Ezekiel 3:17–19; Ezekiel 38:23; Matthew 5:15–16

Final Scripture for Leaders

Regardless of how skilled or gifted we are, if we do not build our foundation on the Rock, Jesus, then whatever we are building will always fade with the generations. Jesus has laid out an eternal plan for all of us, and this Age is the first phase of it, but it is not the last.

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  (Mat 7:24-25, NIV)

At the core of every great leader that is making a long-term eternal impact, is a solid foundation in Jesus Christ. Be sure that no matter how much fruit, success or failure you experience, that Jesus always remains as your First Love for everything (Revelation 2:4).

Learn more Scriptures on Leadership here.