Characteristics of A Servant Leader (Part 2)

4. Loyal

The next servant characteristic is loyal. Loyalty means that you have an undivided heart. Only the loyal servant is truly dependable. Loyalty is indispensable for a servant. Loyalty is exclusive. It says, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Josh 24:15). God demands loyalty. God is jealous for He is absolute. Lordship, by definition, cannot be partial.

Loyalty frees God to promote you within Kingdom work. In Genesis 37_41, Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, Potiphar’s wife and the cupbearer, yet he remained faithful to God. Because of his loyalty, God was free to promote Joseph. Joseph became the prime minister of Egypt.

Jesus was loyal. His loyalty to the Father is seen in the dedication of His life to the Father’s will Jesus was loyal to His disciples. In His great High Priestly prayer, Jesus said to the Father, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name (John 17:12). Jesus was loyal to death on the cross.

5. Faithful

The fifth servant characteristic is faithful (1 Cor 4:1-2). Through Moses, God commanded His people to be faithful: “Thou shall fear the Lord they God; him shall thou serve and to him shall thou cleave (Deut. 10:20). Faithfulness reflects the fidelity of a God who says, “I will never break my covenant with you” (Judg. 2:1). Faithfulness is reflected in statements like: “We must obey God rather than men”. Jesus praised the faithful servants in His parables.

Faithfulness frees God to expand your ministry. The five-talent man and the two-talent man were “faithful with a few things” and so the master put them “in charge of many things”. God rewards trustworthiness with greater trust.

Jesus was faithful. He was faithful to the Father, even to death. Jesus also was faithful to His disciples. “Having loved His own who were in the world. He loved them to the end” Jesus continues to be faithful as our High Priest. He is “with you always, even to the end of the age”

6. Watchful

The sixth servant characteristic is watchful. The emphasis is both on alertness and being prepared for the master’s return. Watchfulness indicates an attitude toward the master. Watchful means you want to know what God says or what He wants you to do. In Jesus’ parables, good servants spent much time waiting They were expected to be alert at all times. Such watchfulness was what made them good servants rather than wicked servants.

The quality of watchfulness proves whether you are God’s watchman. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “You are all sons of light and sons of day. We are neither of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.

Watchfulness frees the Lord to speak. Habakkuk demonstrated the watchman spirit. “I will stand on my guard post…..I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me”. God is not likely to speak to servants who are not watchful.

Jesus was watchful. His eve was always on the Father to know the Father’s direction. “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. Christ always depended on direction from the Father. Jesus spent the night in prayer before He chose His disciples. A watchful servant remains alert to the Master.