John Stanko

 “'The Lord bless him!' Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. 'He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.' She added, 'That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers'” - Ruth 2:20.

The 'him' in this story is Boaz, who was kind to the widows Naomi and Ruth when they returned from the famine in Moab because there was food in Israel. Boaz had resources and power, and he used them both not only for business but also to help others. Because of his kindness, Naomi blessed him and God heard her words and blessed Boaz with a good wife - and that wife was none other than Ruth, grandmother of Kind David and part of Jesus' family tree. All leaders have power and if they use it to help and bless others, it will put a blessing cycle into motion: leaders do good deeds, people are helped, people will speak good things about them and their organization, God will hear, and the Lord will bless the leaders.

LEADERSHIP STEP: Your Step today is to create the right conditions that will put the blessing cycle into motion. How can you use your power and resources to bless your employees or your community? This will require that you discover what either needs and then make a concerted, long-term effort to meet those needs. All the while, you must be doing it for the right reasons: to please the Lord as a good steward of personal and organizational resources.