What Characteristics Make a Good Leader

What characteristics make a good leader? A leader may sound great in speeches and say all of the right things but behind the rhetoric every leader has characteristics, which ones are most important? Which characteristics are needed for a good leader? This paper will go over 5 of the most important characteristics that a leader can have, the biblical reasons that they are important and why a leader needs to have them. The first characteristic is a commitment to God's will.

A commitment to God's will. A leader must be committed to Gods will. Being committed to God's will means reading the Bible, following God's Rules that are laid out in the Bible, always doing what is the right thing to do according to God, and doing what you believe God wants you to do.The Bible speaks about a leader needing to be committed to God's in Joshua 1:8 "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

This characteristic is one of the most important for a leader to have, God is the perfect leader and if our leader isn't following him, listening to his will, and reading the Bible then he isn't leading in a way pleasing to God nor is he leading in a way that will be successful.

Keeping to what he believes in. A leader must keep to what he believes in. A leader can't take a stance on something and flip back and forth unless he is sure that he is wrong. This is important to do because a leader who doesn't stick to what he believes isn't really leading he is following. Elijah speaks on this topic a little bit in 1st kings when speaking to the 450 prophets of Baal. I Kings 18:21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him...” If a leader doesn't stand up for what he believes how can we be sure what he believes at all? If you tell people you believe one thing one day and the next day say you believe something completely different, how can anyone tell which thing you believe or if you believe either of the two things at all? A leader must stand up for what he believes and do so all the time.

Being honorable is a very important aspect of a leader. Being honorable means that you do the right thing all the time. If you tell someone you will do something do it. Don't say something with the intention of doing the opposite. Someone who is honorable is someone you can count on, someone that, no matter what trouble you are in, will help you through it.

"Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." (1 Samuel 2:30 ASV) A leader who is honorable is much more likely to earn the trust of the other leaders of the world. A leader who is not honorable would find it difficult to earn any trust, if no one can rely on you then they are very unlikely to trust you with anything very important. As a leader your people are trusting you to run the nation in a way that helps them and the rest of the world.

A leader must be truthful. Being truthful means not lying, not deceiving people, whether it's your own people or the people of another country. A leader who is not truthful is very hard to trust, if they lie once how can you tell what else is a lie and what else is true? The bible talks a lot about being truthful, in Proverbs 11:3 It says, "The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them." And in Luke 16:10 - "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."

Being truthful is very important to a leader, a truthful leader is generally liked more by the people but more importantly God loves anyone who is honest and truthful and as a leader the best thing you can possibly do for your country is to have God on your side.

Being just is very important, the Bible talks about God being just a lot but what about a leader? What does just even mean? According to thefreedictionary.com just means,

1. Honorable and fair in one's dealings and actions.

2. Consistent with what is morally right.

3. Properly due or merited.

4. Valid within the