This verse below is a message and a warning for Christian leaders, directly from the Holy Bible; Malachai Chapter 2.
Are you a Christian leader in any capacity; are you teaching- on any level, coaching, mentoring, or perhaps you’re a manager or church leader (priest, pastor, vicar etc.) or do you run a ministry or organisation?
Then you are a Christian leader and this message is for you.
Or, if you are a believer in Christ Jesus and are wanting to walk in Gods purpose then this is for you too.
“Listen, you priests—this command is for you! 2 Listen to me and make up your minds to honor my name,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “or I will bring a terrible curse against you. I will curse even the blessings you receive. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you have not taken my warning to heart. 3 I will punish your descendants and splatter your faces with the manure from your festival sacrifices, and I will throw you on the manure pile. 4 Then at last you will know it was I who sent you this warning so that my covenant with the Levites can continue,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
5 “The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and that is what I gave them. This required reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6 They passed on to the people the truth of the instructions they received from me. They did not lie or cheat; they walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin.
7 “The words of a priest’s lips should preserve knowledge of God, and people should go to him for instruction, for the priest is the messenger of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 8 But you priests have left God’s paths. Your instructions have caused many to stumble into sin. You have corrupted the covenant I made with the Levites,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 9 “So I have made you despised and humiliated in the eyes of all the people. For you have not obeyed me but have shown favoritism in the way you carry out my instructions.”
The very first line states “listen” and ends with an exclamation mark, the second line says “listen” again. God is warning all Christian leaders to listen carefully to His message here. He is asking leaders to make up their minds to honour Him. You have a choice, you have freewill. But God is warning that if you don’t follow and honour Him then there will be consequences. We are to honour Him which means to acknowledge who is truly is, the Creator of the universe and worship Him.
Are you honouring Him?
God had reminded the priests many times to take His will seriously, but they didn’t and they were cursed.
It’s crucial that you, especially as a Christian leader, find out what it is that is most important to God.
The first thing to do is to love Him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5).
This also means to listen to what God says in his Word and setting your heart, mind, and will on doing what He says.
The priests in Malachi’s day had stopped loving God, and so they didn’t know or even care what He wanted.
How often do you spend devotional time with the Lord and seek His will?
In this passage, Malachi was angry at the priests because, although they were to be God’s messengers, they didn’t know what God’s will was. Their lack of knowledge caused them to lead God’s people astray.
As a Christian leader, it’s important to firstly seek God and His will. His will for you, your life, your church, organisation and ministry.
Then, in verse 9, Malachai is talking about playing favourites. It is important that leaders are treating anyone under their leadership equally and that discipline, guidance and support is offered to everyone.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17, NIV
Every believer, servant and child of God should be equipped, so they can, in turn help and guide others. Whether you’re an official leader or not, you are to support, encourage and uplift your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Then, if you follow the guidance of the Lord, you will be blessed!! (Mal 3:12.)
What is God asking of you?
How will you serve or lead, today, this week, this month?
What steps do you need to take?
Don’t know where to start? Then let’s chat! Book your free call with me today, using the calendar below. ⬇️
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