I’m sure that these are all traits that leaders have been selected by throughout history. Leaders come in many varieties. There are leaders of nations, states, cities, and towns. There are leaders of military organizations, art clubs, PTA, Boy Scouts, workers’ unions, football teams, corporations, and countless other organizations through the world.

The leaders of these varied organizations are trusted and followed for many reasons, but I believe that in most cases a leader needs to have experience to truly lead his or her followers. They must show that they have endured the same hardships and persevered against the same problems as their followers.

For example, when selecting a football coach, you wouldn’t select a man, however charismatic, that has never played a game of football before. A coach that has never played would not be able to identify with the trials that the players face on a game by game basis.

The military doesn’t put men that are newly enlisted over vast numbers of men that are more experienced. It just doesn’t work. Men and women want to follow others that have successfully endured what they are going through.

We can look at the demographics of presidential and gubernatorial elections for examples of this. People will typically vote for those whom they perceive as having similar backgrounds as themselves, such as a farmer selecting a candidate with an agricultural background.

Or, preferences in leadership may be driven by something even more basic such as a common cultural, gender, or religious background.

We select these leaders because we believe they share like experiences with us and can sympathize with the hardships that we face. Because of these commonalities, we have greater confidence in their advocacy on our behalf.

It is for this reason the writer of Hebrews explained that Jesus had to come down to earth and live as a man.

“Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” (Hebrews 2:17).

Jesus came down to earth, and endured the temptations and hardships that we, as men, face every day so that He could aid us in our temptations and hardships. We can trust in Him to help us, because he has endured and triumphed over the same trials that we face.

The remarkable thing about Jesus’s life on earth is that He endured nearly every temptation and trial that mankind can be faced with. He dealt with poverty, rejection by his family, rejection by his closest friends, political persecution, torture, and execution just to name a few.

He could have led an easy life. He could have worked as a carpenter, made decent wages, and died at a ripe old age. But he didn’t. He lived a life that led him to be tempted in all points so we, his followers, could look to him as an exemplary leader.

“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15).

And it is in this that we can have perfect trust in Him as our High Priest and King. He knows what we face, and we can look to His example on how to persevere though our trials and temptations. We look to Jesus as our leader.