Christian Devotional – March 3, 2023

Principles of Leadership, Day 6

Guard your heart. Read Proverbs 4:23.

You may ask, what does guarding your heart have to do with leadership? This seems like a principle that should be for everyone, not just leaders. You’re actually correct. Every single one of us should understand and take the responsibility of guarding our heart so that it is focused on Christ and does not get distracted by anything else in the world around us. However, I would also say that for leaders, this is especially important.

Your attitude is contagious amongst the people that you lead. Your teams will always be a reflection of you. If you are not guarding your heart, I can guarantee that your team is not either. If you are angry or frustrated, and you voice that or demonstrate that, your team is doing that as well.

While guarding your heart is truly a personal decision that each individual must make, we tend to find comfort in surrounding ourselves with others who do similar to us. So if someone around us is not guarding their heart, sometimes we tend to think that gives us the right to not guard it either. As leaders, we must set the example of what it means to guard our heart and keep it focused on Christ in every situation.

Life is frustrating. For the believer, this life is the closest to hell that any of us will ever be. Yet, God is faithful and we can trust in him. If we will put our heart to focus only on him, the rest of our life will be focused on him as well.