Today, we are talking about DEBORAH! She was a confident and humble leader. To be honest, I was intimidated by her at first because the Bible doesn't mention one negative thing about her! Instead she is a beautiful example of what it looks like to the best kind of leader in a very oppressive and cruel time in Israelites history.
Her story is found in Judges 4-5.
She is one of us:
1. Busy go-to girl
2. Heard from God and believe him at his word
3. Brave in doing hard things
Who God was to her, he is to you:
1. powerful
2. righteous
3. helper
4. victorious
We are all leaders in some way. Don't squirm at the truth of that for you. Deborah demonstrates many amazing LEADERSHIP principles to learn from. Here are a few:
A humble leader:
- celebrates when someone else gets the credit while you were the one leading.
- gives space for others to participate with their God calling in the storyline.
- celebrates each other in what God has called us to do as a family.
- calls out courage in others.
- celebrates not necessarily the outcome but everyones willingness to serve together.
- doesn't shy away from the hard truths but delivers them with grace and humility.
Humble leadership:
- comes from an overflow of your personal pursuit of God.
- doesn't mean you have to do it all.
- is motivated by serving the Lord. Your success as a leader is based on your obedience to God's calling and not your approval rate of those you lead.
We hope that you will be encouraged!
*Blog Post Deborah: leading well in the many hats we wear
NEW (recently added) - - - - - ->>>> D I S C U S S I O N Q U E S T I O N S
We've had so much fun hearing your stories of connecting with these women in the Bible and each other. Some of you have gathered up your friends and created a small group around these podcasts, diving into God's word yourselves and joining into our conversation with your own.
As an added supplement to every episode, Jamy is writing discussion questions to use as a group in discussion or individually to process through in prayer with God.
Episode 3: D E B O R A H Discussion Questions
*See episode description in the show notes. Review Judges 4-5 for her story.
1. What did you learn for the first time about Deborah? What surprised you about her story with God?
2. Why do you think God put Deborah in a position of leadership?
3. Using Deborah’s example, what does it mean to be a humble leader?
4. “Deborah’s actions and words consistently point to God, not away from Him.” How do you see the truth of this quote in Deborah’s story? How true is this of your own life?
5. Review the three descriptions of Deborah from the podcast and discuss which one resonates the most with you:
· Busy Go-To Girl
· Heard from God
· Brave in Hard Things
6. “Deborah is one of us. Who God is to her, He is to me.” Who was God to Deborah? What does that mean to you in your life today?