Our office was blessed with devotions led by our Director of Training and Development, Jason L. May you be blessed as well!

DEVOTIONS: SERVANT LEADERSHIP IN SCRIPTURE AND BUSINESS

Studies have shown that businesses who practice a Servant Leadership operating system are more successful than those who don’t. There are hundreds of leadership and business books on Servant Leadership. The idea behind Servant Leadership it is alive-and-well in our culture today.

In ancient Egypt, the Pharaohs would build massive structures to bring glory and attention to themselves such as pyramids, mortuary temples, and other structures. This was done to make themselves appear very large and important. They wanted to send the message that they were HUGE and the rest of the population was small.

Scripture calls us to give God praise and worship. He is worthy of our praise. In the Hebrew there are three words for praise: hallel, yada, and barukh. Hallel means “to shine forth” (the word Halleluja is derived from this word. Yada means “to point out” (think of a football player who scores a touchdown…they will “point out” to God to give him praise). Barukh means “to bend the knee” (also translated as “bless”).

What this is saying is that if we want to “bless” others or give “praise” to God, we can BARUKH. But what does “bend the knee” have to do with it?

Bending the knee is a picture of making yourself small and others big. Make yourself small, and make God big by BARUKH. This is a form of praise and worship. Make your teammates big and yourself small by BARUKH. This is a form of Servant Leadership.

Philippians 2:1-8 (What does Servant Leadership look like?)

2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!