All the people took note of this, and it pleased them. In fact, everything the king did pleased them. - 2 Samuel 3:36
After Joab (the commander of David's army) murdered Abner (the commander of Saul's army), King David mourned. It wasn't the staged action of a hypocritical politician, David truly grieved the loss of a great leader. Abner might have been David's enemy, but he was also a man of honor and such men were not easy to come by under Saul's rule.
David's example of compassion, though not intended to influence the people, probably did as much to bring Israel back together as a nation as anything else he could have possibly done. God's love and compassion in a leader, coupled with true humility and authenticity, will ultimately bring God greater glory and earn the respect of those being led.
Being right is important, but of equal importance is being right the right way.
The authority by which the Christian leader leads is not power but love, not force but example, not coercion but reasoned persuasion. Leaders have power, but power is safe only in the hands of those who humble themselves to serve. - John Stott
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