The meaning of the Beatitude "Blessed are the meek . . " sometimes is lost in the English translation of the Greek in that the Greek word that we translate as 'meek' is praus that refers controlled discipline as like a domesticated animal. Now, this doesn't imply that leaders are domesticated animals but rather as a domesticated controls its actions, how much more should leaders control their actions. This is the essence of James message in 1:18-20 in that we are first made in the image of God and second, if the first statement is true, we must live according to the righteousness that God calls us to. Of interest here is that the Greek we find for 'righteousness' is dikaiosune that is the same as we find in the Beatitude 'Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled' (Matthew 5:6). This dikaiosune implies a rich complex concept of having integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, and acting, according to Strong's concordance.

James' admonition carries with it a sense that while anger is not to be avoided completed, since James indicates that we should be 'slow to anger;'  anger should occur only after it is clear from the situation that anger is deserved. The reason for this is that anger can cause us to react in uncontrolled ways that are not appropriate or redeeming in action or end results. This is what Marcus Aurelius refers to in the wisdom quote to the left.

The Col 3:17 verse is used to imply that anything we do has to be done well since we are doing it for the glory of God. The 1Peter 4:11 verse is used to support this concept -- but does this mean 'quality' of work? Or, does it mean the intent to serve, even if the quality is low?

According to Kahaner in his book Values, Prosperity, and the Talmud,  the Talmudic rabbis wondered what makes a great leader and considered the preparation of Moses and David before each became leaders. Kahaner recounts the Rabbis discussion and reports that the Rabbis determined that the best herders exhibited compassion and sensitivity toward their flock, especially for the weaker animals. During this discussion Rabbi Ben Zoma declared that a great leader is one who conquers one's passions and emotions (the Talmud book Bava Metzia29b). The discussion went on to illustrate that when the herder is angry his actions confuse the flock and the flock doesn't know where to go, thus, harming the whole flock. The Rabbis recall a situation in which a herder becomes angry at the flock and blinds the eyes of the bellwether sheep thus causing the bellwether sheep not to know which way to go.

Although we don't have many reports of leaders blinding the eyes of the supervisors who must guide the employees in the ways that the leaders want them to go -- the analogy applies but in actions other than physical violence. 

Example of the devotional

An organization hired a new branch manager from outside the organization  to oversee the flagship branch of the firm and this action frustrated one of the firm's employees who expected that he would be selected to run the branch. After all, he had several years experience with the firm and had all the right credentials. For the first two months of the new branch manager's tenure the passed-over employee began to make comments to other employees and customers about the  new branch manger's inability to run the branch and the lack of competence that that the new branch manager had in general industry matters. Word of these comments reached the branch manager who was not very pleased with the insubordinate comments that the employee was making, especially, since in the mind of the new branch manager the comments were fabrications and lies. 

The branch manager, acting out of anger, called the employee in and summarily fired him for insubordination. The employee, out of now escalated anger, filed a wrongful discharge suit that, although ultimately was thrown out of court, cost the firm over $10,000 in legal fees. The new branch manager had an uphill climb to build credibility with the other employees and the terminated employee ended up with an assistant manager job working for a competitor.

How might this have ended if both parties or at least the new branch manager had been slow to anger and had heeded Marcus Aurelius' advice? There are probably many scenarios that could follow the story if anger had not prompted the ill-tempered actions. It is probable that communication between the two people might have resulted in a more positive result.

Application of the devotional

As a leader, always consider your motive for actions and seek the dikaiosune that James admonishes us to seek in order that we might live the life that God intended for us.

Practical exercise related to the devotional

Spend time discussing the negative aspects of anger with your employees and see if release mechanisms might be suggested so that employees/followers don't end up acting out of anger.