Words are powerful. Speech is a gift given to us to communicate truth and love. Yet too often the way we live our lives does not coincide with what we say or even with what we believe.
Your Witness Matters
It’s easy to tell others what to do. It’s just as easy to say one thing and do another. But this is where credibility is lost. There is something about those leaders who not only have great wisdom to share, but who also are living reflections of their teaching. In a sense they back it up with their lives.
Take Philip for example:
“With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing.”
~ Acts 8:6
They paid attention because they listen and learned, from his words and his actions. His life bore witness to his teaching. This is what a leader is. And this is what distinguishes a leader from a teacher. A teacher can read and repeat, but those who lead by word and deed are more than teachers, they are leaders.
Leading by Example
As a parent do you live by the same rules you set for your children? As a coworker do expect more from others than you do from yourself? As a business leader do you inspire others to do their best by being the best that you can be? As a Christian do you incarnate the love of God in your life, bringing Christ to life for others through the way you treat them?
Ghandi was famous for saying that he would probably become a Christian if he ever saw one, meaning that the truth of Christianity was awesome and inspiring, but most of us who call ourselves Christians don’t actually live it. Look at the photo above. You can talk all day long about biking, but until you get in the race and show them how it’s done you will never gain credibility. To be the leader of the pack you’ve got to get in the race.
Our world is in desperate need of leaders. We’ve had all kinds of teachers, but too often their actions discredit their teaching. The world needs faithful leaders like you whose actions and words compliment each other in their mission to inspire others.
Question: Who has been an inspiration to you? Was it their words alone that inspired you or their words in union with their lived example? As a leader yourself, do you feel that your life is a reflection of your message?