What is Godly influence and how is it established as a leader?
Influence is the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something else.
John Maxwell says “Leadership is influence. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
Influence has the power to shape a person or project. Godly influence then has the power to shape people or projects specifically towards God and His ways.
It is benevolent.
This is what I love about benevolent leadership:
It shapes and guides towards what is right and good over what is expedient.
And because of this, this kind of leadership may cost you something.
One day my wife said something simple yet profound to me. She said,
“Everywhere we go we bring the Kingdom of God. And the Kingdom is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. But you can’t have peace without righteousness so things must be first set in order.”
Crooked places made straight. Valleys lifted up. Mountains brought low…before there can be true peace.
Psalm 89:14 says, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne…”
Godly leadership is first established by the right foundation.
The foundation is doing what is right, whether seen or unseen, acknowledged or not.
Only then can there be true peace with God.
True peace, which Godly leadership brings, is called “shalom.”
In the Spirit, there is order- nothing broken, nothing missing, and nothing out of place. Nothing is hidden in darkness, allowing the enemy to maintain a foothold.
From this place of wholeness comes true joy, not the hype of a contrived and sunny optimism that is not based in reality.
Proverbs 29:2 says,
“When the righteous are in authority the people rejoice. But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.”
Righteousness is the foundation for Godly leadership.
Doing the right thing, even at the risk of personal loss, is what makes an influential leader for God.
I want to bring the Kingdom wherever I go.
To me this means: setting things in order, bringing true healing and wholeness, and causing people to experience the joy that comes with aligning to God’s ways over our own.
