Nehemiah Characteristics of Godly Leadership CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
When you read the book of Nehemiah you see in him the characteristics of godly leadership. We are going to examine several of these characteristics in Nehemiah.
Nehemiah was a:
Praying man – Nehemiah 1:4-11; 2:4; 4:9 – he did not undertake anything for the Lord without praying first. A godly leader seeks direction from the Lord first not last.
Compassionate man – Nehemiah 1:3-4; 2:10 – he loved Jerusalem. A godly leader will have compassion on the people he expects to follow him, just like Jesus did when he dealt with sinners in Israel.
Submissive man – Nehemiah 1:11; 2:5; 2:18 – a godly leader will be submissive to his leader. Nehemiah started out as the king’s cupbearer. He was very submissive to the king. Likewise, when he went to Jerusalem he was submissive to the Lord.
Initiator – Nehemiah 1:11; 2:17 – Nehemiah was not a man to just pray and leave everything in God’s hands. After he had prayed and gotten direction from the Lord, he got up and did something about it. He was determined to build that wall.
Delegator – Nehemiah 3:1-32; 4:13-14 – Nehemiah did not try to get all of this work done by himself. He got everybody else involved. A godly leader will involve others so that they can learn how to do what God has shown him to do (2 Tim 2:2).
Biblical man – Nehemiah 8:5-8; 9:3, 4-31 – Nehemiah was a man of the Book. He read the word of God and then he followed everything it said to do. A godly leader must be a man of the Book. And he must do what it says.
God-fearing man – Nehemiah 5:9; 5:15 – Nehemiah feared God. We used to say about godly men that they were God-fearing men. You don’t hear that expression much anymore. But godly leaders need to be God-fearing man. The fear of the Lord must motivate them more than any thing else on earth.
Fearless and courageous man – Nehemiah 6 – once Nehemiah knew the direction of the Lord, and set about to accomplish what needed to be done, he did not fear anybody or anything. Godly leaders must be fearless leaders.
Conclusion: Nehemiah was a committed man. He stayed with the work in Jerusalem until he had finished the job. He built the wall, he reestablished the Levites, he reestablished the priests, he got the people back under the word of God, he reinstituted the ordinances and he got rid of the mixed multitude. This godly leader finished his job just like Jesus and Paul did.