“And I said, “O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned.” (Nehemiah 1:5–6, ESV)
The last few days, we have been learning leadership lessons from Nehemiah. One of the things that impress me the most about Nehemiah is the way he takes ownership of the situation. He prays and confesses the sins of the people before God. But he does not pass the buck. He identifies with the people. He says, “We have sinned.” There are no excuses. Nehemiah says, ‘I am part of the problem.’
It is common to make excuses and pass the blame to others. If we are going to be part of the solution, we need to acknowledge that we are part of the problem. Nehemiah comes out and says that we got ourselves into this mess. Now with the help of God, we are going to get ourselves out of this mess.
It is important that if we are to overcome a challenge that we recognize what got us into the situation in the first place. Otherwise, there is a good chance that we will find ourselves back in the same place we started. Bringing about change means we will need to do things differently.
Before I can bring about change in an organization or others, I need to see where I need to bring about change in myself. I must learn to lead myself before I can lead others. But stubbornness and pride get in the way. We insist on plowing ahead in the same fashion. We can’t admit we were wrong to bring about the needed change.
A great leader makes plenty of mistakes. But what separates a great leader from others is that the great leader will acknowledge those mistakes, learn from those mistakes, and chart a different course of action.
There is a name for this. It is called repentance. Repentance is a beautiful thing. Repentance is about charting a new course. It is going in a different direction and aligning ourselves with God’s direction.
Reflection
- Where do you have a hard time acknowledging where you are wrong?
- What is the new course God would have you chart?
Prayer
Lord, I have made plenty of mistakes. I have so many excuses I could make. There are other people I could blame. But today I am taking ownership of the poor decisions I have made. I acknowledge my poor stewardship of many areas of my life. Forgive me for going my way rather than seeking your way. Give me the self-control, motivation, and discipline to be led by you. Amen.
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