‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬In our previous meditation, we defined lasting leaders as those who give priority to the welfare of the people under their watch. This is indeed a counter culture to what is obtainable in the world’s system. Majority of the people live by the dictum “everyone for himself, God for us all”. The reason why this is so is not difficult to explain; it is because the giant “I” is still at the helm of affairs. No one who has not yet tamed this giant can think of other people, much less reach out to them. Joshua who was our text case of lasting leader yesterday reportedly conquered 31 territories. I believe that those conquests were possible because he had first conquered the greed in him. He had managed to subdue selfishness and pride.

He had managed to subdue selfishness and pride. The starting point to selflessness is a desire, followed by a decision…humility remains the forerunner of honour.

The starting point to selflessness is a desire, followed by a decision. John stated it plainly in this text; he chose to take the back seat for another to be in the forefront. This time, it was the Master to whom the front rightly belongs. Believers should take their cue from Jesus. The Bible says that even though He was in the form of God He did not count equality with Him when He appeared in human nature. He divested Himself of all the glory that is rightly His to serve mankind. He is our perfect example; and He expects us to do as He has done. Our ego is one of the cardinal expressions of the fallen nature. It will not easily defer to others. But we can draw strength from Christ, by Him we can do all things. Additional motivation to give up the self life will come when we look at the end result of Jesus’ selfless nature. It was because Jesus humbled Himself to the end that He was given a name to which every knee now has to bow, and every tongue confesses as Lord. The Scripture makes it plain that humility remains the forerunner of honour.