Love That Carries the Leader

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 (ESV)
https://www.esv.org/Ecclesiastes+4:9-12/

Reflection

Today I want to break a little from the structure we have embraced this devotional as a whole.

Scripture tells us that two are better than one, not because the work is easier, but because the load is shared. Ecclesiastes names a reality every leader eventually learns the hard way: when one falls, someone else is needed to help them up. Leadership may reward independence, but Scripture honors interdependence.

Leadership often focuses on what leaders carry for others. Scripture reminds us that leaders are also meant to be carried. Real love shows up most clearly outside the office—when the title comes off and the weight remains.

Leadership has a public face. Decisions, responsibility, vision, resolve. Most people see that part.

What they don't see is what happens when the leader hat comes off.

They don't see the quiet after hard days.
They don't hear the conversations that happen when confidence gives way to doubt.
They don't feel the weight that settles in when responsibility has been carried well—but heavily.

That's where my amazing wife, Carie, lives.

Ecclesiastes speaks of a cord of three strands that is not quickly broken. Strength, Scripture reminds us, is not found in standing alone, but in being bound together. Carie is not quiet. She's not passive. She's not a background character in my life or leadership. She's a warrior in her own right—strong, discerning, and unafraid to speak real truth to me and to those around us.

She carries me in ways no title ever could.

She steadies me when leadership has taken its toll.
She challenges me when I drift.
She reminds me who I am when the noise gets loud.
She stands beside me when the work is costly and stays when it would be easier not to.

Scripture is clear: when one stumbles, another is there to help them up. I don't lead alone—not because I don't have to, but because I'm not meant to.

This is the love of spouses, family, and close friends. The love that listens after hard days. The love that speaks truth without posturing. The love that steadies, encourages, and restores when leadership has taken its toll. It is not romanticized. It is faithful, grounded, and necessary.

Leaders who try to carry everything alone eventually fracture. Those who allow themselves to be supported are strengthened—not weakened. Love behind the scenes sustains leadership out front.

Relational faithfulness expands here. Love is not only what leaders give—it is also what they receive.

Practical Application

• Acknowledge someone who carries you outside your leadership role.
• Receive support without guilt or defensiveness.
• Make space for relationships that restore you, not just rely on you.

Takeaways

• Leaders are not meant to carry everything alone.
• Love behind the scenes sustains leadership over time.

Closing Thought

Today I will honor and receive the love that carries me.