Shepherd Daily Devotional – The Victor’s Crown

Written By Ben Dankaka

Meditation – 2 Timothy 2:5

Leadership isn’t all about crisis and suffering. Although leadership comes with a lot of challenges, it also has its own benefits. Leaders don’t just go through pain; they also experience some gain. The truth about leadership is that while it has a price, it also comes with a prize. True leaders are individuals who pay a price in order to attain a prize. No doubt, every true leader has to pay a price in order to obtain a prize. If you are that leader who has been surrounded by a lot of challenges ever since you got that leadership position, be assured that your situation isn’t abnormal. Whatever problems you are facing in your capacity as leader is the price you have to pay in order to get hold of your prize. You can’t get that prize until you’ve paid the price for it. This is a universal law of leadership.

But while every leader is bound to face challenges, not every leader eventually succeeds in the end. In my assessment of leadership, I have seen many leaders who start well but when they begin to encounter challenges, they lose their focus and even forget why they were leaders. So in their attempt to get the prize by all means, they end up breaking the rules. You see, leadership is a like a race. You can’t cheat the process. To get the prize, you must abide by the rules of the game. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul advised him to see himself as an athlete. Paul said, “If anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.” As you go through challenges, you are going to be tempted to cheat. But hold on, resist the urge to cheat!

Prayer: By the grace of our Lord Jesus, I will abide by the rules. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: 2 Timothy 2:1-7

Unless otherwise stated all scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version.