The Foundation Is Love

“I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.” John 15:15 (TLB)

One of the topics that stirs my heart the most is leadership, not because I claim to have mastered it, but because I’ve personally experienced both life-giving leadership and leadership that left deep wounds. In my journey to understand the vast difference between the two, I turned to the Lord, asking why I had to walk through both seasons. Gently and faithfully, He led me to see through Scripture how every experience, the good and the difficult, was teaching me what kind of leader I should be, and what kind I must never become.

This passage in John 15 has always stood out to me. Jesus didn’t refer to His disciples as servants, but as friends. He modeled a kind of leadership grounded in relationship, trust, and love. He didn’t lead by distance or authority alone He led through closeness, by confiding in them and walking alongside them.

Years ago, God placed someone in my life who forever impacted how I understood leadership. She was my boss, leading a well-known organization with her husband. Yet, she never used her position to intimidate or control. Instead, she took time to truly know the people on her team celebrating weddings, graduations, and milestones, and standing with them in grief and trials.

Though I had known Jesus from a young age, witnessing this kind of leadership up close was transformative. She valued me not for what I could offer, but simply because I mattered. She reminded me that my first ministry was my family, and that while I could be replaced at work, I was irreplaceable to them. Her example wasn’t about benefiting herself it was about honoring the privilege of leading others well. Through her, God brought healing to places in my heart that desperately needed it.

In John 15, Jesus speaks of the True Vine and the importance of remaining connected to Him to bear fruit. He commands His disciples to love one another not as a distant rule, but as a way of life rooted in friendship with Him. Leadership, at its heart, isn’t about power or control; it’s about walking closely with those God places in our lives, valuing them, and helping them grow into all He’s called them to be.

May we lead like Jesus with love as our foundation, relationship as our reflection of Him, and transformation as the fruit. I invite you to pray this prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the areas in your leadership where you need to grow in loving others well, and where He may be calling you to make adjustments.

Prayer:
God, today I ask You to lead me in every area of my life. Help me see the people You’ve placed under my care as a precious opportunity to be part of their journey with You. Open my eyes to recognize the beauty and the treasures each of them carries. Teach me to love them for who they are, not for what they can offer.

Guide me in helping them grow into their God given purpose. And if ever I become an obstacle in their path in my pride, fear, or insecurity, gently remove me from the way. Remind me that leadership is not about me, but about what You desire to do in and through each of us. May love be my foundation, humility my posture, and Your will my pursuit.

In Jesus’ name. Amen!