LEADERS ARE PATIENTlose integrity. They ended up defaming the Lord...destroying their
reputations...and losing their ministries.
Let me share a timely and insightful quotation by John Haggai about this
matter of self-control:
An attitude of self-control develops strong character and strong
character can be defined as the power to stand alone. Holiness never
counts its companions; it never intimates that its validity is in proportion
to the number of its admirers.^7It takes patience and self-control to humbly stand alone – which every
leader has to do at times. To allow God the time to stamp His character on
our nature; to strive for personal holiness above personal happiness; to wait
on the fullness of God’s time for the fulfillment of a vision – all require
patience. Every leader must be careful about substituting patient for
presumptuous. It will require a lot of patience to learn to be Spirit-controlled
and self-controlled rather than flesh-controlled or follower-controlled.
Both the Old Testament and New Testament remind us of the importance
of self-control. Proverbs 16:32 says:
“He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and
he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.”A man can only “...rule his spirit” by first allowing God to rule him.
Only then will the Holy Spirit be able to mature and manifest His fruit in
a leader’s life. The Bible assures us that “...the fruit of the Spirit is...
self-control” (Gal. 5:22). Only as this fruit of self-control matures in his life
will a leader have the patience necessary for a sustained leadership that will
take him across the finish line with his integrity and character intact!