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Key Bible Verse: They have been co-workers in my ministry … In fact, they risked their lives for me (Romans 16:3–4). Bonus Reading:Philippians 2:25–30

In Vietnam in 1970, Colonel Norman Schwarzkopf landed his command helicopter in a minefield where one of his companies had wandered. As a wounded soldier was being airlifted to base, a second soldier set off a mine and began screaming in pain, unable to escape the minefield. Sensing their peril, the soldiers in the company began to panic.

Schwarzkopf entered the minefield to rescue the wounded soldier. Another mine was detonated 20 yards away, severely wounding a third soldier and injuring Schwarzkopf. He managed to get both soldiers back to safety. Schwarzkopf clearly understood a truth that Jesus perfectly modeled: true leadership comes through personal sacrifice—and gives leaders much more authority than does their position.

Mahatma Gandhi's readiness to suffer for his cause along with his people gave him international influence. Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter, written while confined in a Birmingham jail cell, gained him national attention. Nelson Mandela spent over 27 years in the formidable prison on Robben Island before he was awarded the Nobel Prize—and ultimately his nation's presidency.

—Henry and Richard Blackaby in Spiritual Leadership

My Response: If I'm to truly lead, one way I may be called to suffer is …

Thought to Apply: Self-preservation is the first law of nature; self-sacrifice the highest rule of grace.
—Source unknown

Adapted from: Spiritual Leadership (Broadman & Holman, 2001) by permission.

Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Thank you, Lord, for men I know who demonstrate godly leadership. Help me to be more like them.

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