The most important subject for a young leader is history. A young person does not have the benefit of experience. He has to tap into the experiences of others. His only chance of avoiding certain mistakes is to study those who went before him.

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

Ecclesiastes 1:9,10

Every good leader will learn a lot from history. History itself teaches us that most people do not learn from it. If you want to be a good leader, you must study church history and secular history.

Seven Reasons Why Every Leader Must Study History
1. History is the greatest source of knowledge and wisdom, second only to the Scriptures.
2. The Scriptures themselves contain many history lessons that guide us.
3. God instructed his leaders to teach history so that people would not forget. Forgetting leads to a repetition of the same mistakes.

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded you? Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: And the Lord shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:

Deuteronomy 6:6,7,20-22

4. History repeats itself.
You are walking where others just like you, have walked. If you know what happened to them, then you will know what will happen to you. There is a proverb that states: “Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.”

5. Because many things are programmed in cycles.
There is an in-built cyclical system of the world. The planets revolve around the sun. The moon circles around the earth. The human body has numerous biochemical and hormonal cycles within it. The Krebs cycle and the menstrual cycle are examples of these. Your life may be part of an evil cycle that is playing itself out. You can break every terrible cycle of your life and ministry by studying history.

6. A student of history can predict the future.
Your prophetic insights will be greatly enhanced as you study church history.

7. Boldness and confidence are fruits of studying history.
You can lead the way with greater confidence by using the lessons you learnt from history.

One day I was standing with an old wise man in front of my house. I told him about a crisis I had experienced in my fellowship. He smiled to himself and said something that I will never forget. He said, “The devil has just a few tricks. And he keeps using them over and over.”

He continued, “I am always surprised that the same trick works every time.”
He explained, “Because people do not know what happened in the past, they keep falling for the same old tricks.”

Dear friend, will you fall for the same trick that your senior brother fell for? Why don’t you read about what happened yesterday? Dear politician can you not see how your predecessor ended up. It’s time to glean the lessons of wisdom and knowledge from history.

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 1:9

by Dag Heward-MIlls