A Passion For Position By Afrika MhlopheSample

Personal Convictions

Convictions are closely held beliefs that form part of a person’s makeup. They are not contingent on the behavior of others or the circumstances around a person. For instance, in Daniel 1:8 we read, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies.” The king’s delicacies represent temptations that believers face. For leaders, there are three areas that are likely to cause them to stumble, and these are represented by the letter “G”:

· Girls/Guys—this deals with sexual misconduct and how a leader relates to members of the opposite sex.

· Glory—this deals with pride and how a leader handles power.

· Gold—this deals with greed and how a leader handles money and material things.

While everything rises and falls on leadership, leaders themselves rise and fall on how they handle these three areas of temptation. Notice that for Daniel his dietary choice was based on principle rather than popularity. He could have eaten everything that was placed before him and used a cop-out that says “but everyone is doing it”. Daniel, however, was not everyone but was a Jew who had to live by his convictions. What would you have done had you been in Daniel’s position? Your answer depends on your personal convictions.

Your convictions act like an internal compass that guides your decisions. It is as if you have a GPS system with a preset destination. If you came into leadership with a compass pointed towards making a name for yourself, then this is the direction you will take. However, the great thing about a navigation system is that it allows you to change route and even the destination that you have already set for yourself. I believe that in leadership we are also presented with opportunities to reassess the route and destination we have planned. This reassessment requires that we look at our character and values.