1 Samuel 12:1-11 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 12:1-11. As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
1 Samuel 12:1 (NIV)
1 Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you.
On verse 1: Great leaders listen to the people. That doesn’t mean the leader agrees with everything the people say or grants all of their requests. Rather it’s about being sensitive to where the people are at. You need to know where your people are at in order to lead them, and in order to know where your people are at, you need to listen. Are you a good listener?
1 Samuel 12:2 (NIV)
2 Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day.
On verse 2: Great leaders have longevity. When Samuel says, “I have been your leader from my youth until this day” (v2), it shows that Samuel wasn’t just a flash in the pan, someone who served brightly for a short moment and then left. Rather, Samuel served the people for several decades, through good times and bad. He didn’t give up easily.
How about you? How easily do you give up when times get rough? One of the best measures of a leader’s greatness is their ability to persevere.
1 Samuel 12:3-5 (NIV)
3 Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right.”
4 “You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”
5 Samuel said to them, “The LORD is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” “He is witness,” they said.
On verses 3-5: Samuel, like Moses before him and Paul after him, invited the people to look at his record and see if they could find any wrongdoing. What can we learn from this? Great leaders are people of integrity.
Let me put it another way: It’s not your charisma but your character that determines your credibility. When looking for someone to lead, don’t just look for charisma; even more, look for character.
1 Samuel 12:6-11 (NIV)
6 Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your forefathers up out of Egypt.
7 Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the LORD as to all the righteous acts performed by the LORD for you and your fathers.
8 “After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the LORD for help, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your forefathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place.
9 “But they forgot the LORD their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them.
10 They cried out to the LORD and said, ‘We have sinned; we have forsaken the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’
11 Then the LORD sent Jerub-Baal, Barak, Jephthah and Samuel, and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies on every side, so that you lived securely.
On verses 6-11: Here Samuel begins to recount the history of Israel’s relationship with its leaders. He puts himself at the end of a list of notable people who led and protected the people of Israel.
What can we learn from this? Great leaders are humble and see themselves as part of a much bigger story that God is writing. They don’t see their reign as being all about them; rather they see their role as part of a continuing story that God is writing, a story that is much bigger than them.
Lord, I pray that all of us would be great leaders, people who lead others with a listening ear, with longevity, with integrity, and with humility knowing that it is not all about us. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
