Learning To Release Our Control As Leaders From Examples of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke

While preparing the lessons for my weekly podcasts on the Gospel of Luke, I was constantly reminded of the key leadership principles Jesus continually exhibited in this powerful story.

Throughout the Gospel of Luke, the author wants us to see Jesus as a man even though He was without sin. The stories of His childhood reveal that Jesus grew physically, mentally and spiritually — the saving grace of God was upon Him. Jesus relinquished His control over things to the Holy Spirit during His time on earth. We can see through His life that He had to learn things like we do. We see Jesus praying, seeking the will of His father and relying on God. Viewing Jesus in this way is encouraging because we know that He understands our struggles, temptations and what life on earth is truly like. 

Even Jesus, who is fully God and fully man, obeyed the Father and followed His will. Seeing Jesus’ example is a great reminder for us to release our control to God. I find it tempting to keep a tight grip on situations, rely on my own instincts and try to work through challenges on my own -- especially when high levels of stress or pressure are involved.

Control is dangerous because it not only makes us believe we are self-sustaining, but can also steer us to being forceful, demanding, self-reliant, and lacking in compassion and the ability to listen to those around us. When we give up our control and lean into the Father, knowing that He is steadfast and fulfills all promises, which we can believe because of the prophecies completed as set forth in the Gospel of Luke, we are able to follow the will that God has for our lives. 

We should look to other great leaders for guidance on how we should carry ourselves so we can best lead those on whom we have an influence. While there is a multitude of wonderful leaders we can look to, some who are followers of Christ and some who are not, we must continue to be in the Word of God and look to Jesus for our ultimate direction. I encourage you to note the characteristics of Jesus that Luke details in his Gospel, revisiting them often to see if you are leading those around you in a way that Jesus Christ modelled for us. 

If you want to learn more, I encourage you to join me on my podcast as we spend more time reading and unpacking this Gospel. This text reveals how the birth of Jesus fulfilled many prophecies that we know of because of scripture in the Old Testament — we see how the life of Jesus brought hope as God delivered the Messiah just like He promised. 

You can listen to podcast lessons on the Gospel of Luke (and other books of the New Testament) for free by visiting my website at www.larryodonnell.com and clicking on the Podcast tab and then clicking on More Episodes, or listening on Spotify, ApplePlay or other podcast platforms by searching for The Larry O’Donnell Podcast.

TO SUBSCRIBE TO MY FREE WEEKLY PODCAST OR WEEKLY BLOG, GO TO WWW.LARRYODONNELL.COM OR CLICK HERE