Why you lead is way more important than what you lead. Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows >from it.” Only two motivations drive people to lead: 1. -BASED Leadership: You want to AND CARE for the people you lead. 2. -BASED Leadership: You want to be REWARDED by the perks & power of leading. When you bend down to SERVE, God can lift you up to LEAD. 1 Peter 5:6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Matthew 20:20-28 Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. “What is your request?” he asked. She replied, “In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?” “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.” When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” If you lead for any reason other than to OTHERS, you will never be a GREAT LEADER. How would you know if you’re a SERVANT leader vs a REWARD-CENTERED leader? 1. Servant leaders are always trying to LIFT OTHERS up. 2. Servant leaders find their approval in one place – GOD. Reward-centered leaders believe: Self-worth = MY performance + Approval of OTHERS 3. Servant leaders evaluation & feedback because it allows them to improve for the benefit of others. What keeps us from being a SERVANT leader? 1. PRIDE 2. FEAR Proverbs 29:25 MSG “The fear of human opinion disables; trusting in God protects you from that.”