Afterward, Joash took it to heart to renovate the Lord’s temple. So he gathered the priests and Levites and said, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from all Israel to repair the temple of your God as needed year by year, and do it quickly.” (2 Chronicles 24:4-5)
Joash does three things in these two verses, and those simple actions are an encouragement and challenge for us as we lead well.
- Take to heart.
- Unite others.
- Take action.
Often, we are good at, at least, one of those things. But sometimes we ignore other essentials. We’re considerate and compassionate, yet we don’t respond with action. Or we respond with action, but we take control and try to do things ourselves or work around people, especially those who seem to be in our way, instead of uniting people. After all, unity takes time, effort, and sacrifice. Sometimes we take action, but we don’t take heart ahead of time.
Good leadership takes all three, entwined together from beginning through the end of a process, including everything in between. Refuse to isolate one apart from the others.