Leaders Love; Or, What the Greatest Thing Is

By R. Josiah Magnuson

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matt. 22:37-40)

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. (I Cor. 13:13)

The greatest thing is not a series of doctrines, or a civil contract, or the idea of freedom. It is not even the principle of Biblical supremacy. On the other hand, the greatest thing is certainly not ecumenical unity and harmony or the absence of any strict doctrines. The greatest thing is love for God the Creator.

Something which will come from a devotion to God is a love and compassion for those around us.
The truth is, freedom, God's Law, and any other principle which we may hold to, cannot be crushed into anyone. Trying to force freedom is oxymoronic. We must first, love those around us and second, lead by example in supporting lawful objects. It is only by that passive direction that people will be won to Christian ideas.

It has been said that if leadership could be described the simplest possible way, it would be one word: OTHERS. "Others" means everyone we meet and see. Serving and loving those around us is the way leadership must work.

People should not have to agree with us in order for us to encourage them. Nor should we have to figure out what theological system they belong to in order to think how to influence them. Real influence is generally accomplished in a passing moment. People simply see something in you and decide that they want to imitate that quality.

Of course, there is not much point in leading if you have no principles. This is why loving God is even more important than loving others. We must always stand for God's Word. That is the ultimate purpose of the YCLA. However, influencing someone for truth is impossible until you become a leader for that person. As we have pointed out, leadership is fundamentally about loving others.

Any way one looks at it, the greatest need is for a spirit of LOVE. Christmas is a good time to get started; but let's keep shining for Christ long after that!