In the Beginning: Leading from Image, Falling from Intimacy
listen to genesis 1-3
Reflection…
Every journey of life and leadership starts with identity. In Genesis 1–3, we see the original design for humanity—and the first great distance between head knowledge and heart connection. This is where the foot and a half story begins.
Created to Reflect
In Genesis 1, we’re introduced not to people first, but to God—a Creator who speaks order from chaos, light from darkness, and life from dust. Humanity is formed last, but not least. We are made in God’s image, to reflect His nature, to steward His creation, and to live in unbroken relationship with Him.
This tells us something essential about leadership: it starts with identity before activity. We don’t lead to prove our worth—we lead because we were created with purpose.
Formed for Relationship
In Genesis 2, the story zooms in. God doesn’t just create man; He breathes into him. He doesn’t just assign work; He provides rest, relationship, and boundaries. Leadership here isn’t about control—it’s about companionship with God and others, rooted in trust.
But this is where the foot and a half gap begins to form. God gives Adam and Eve both knowledge and boundaries. The head knows: “Don’t eat from that tree.” But the heart begins to wonder: “Is God holding something back?”
The First Fall: From Head to Heart
In Genesis 3, we see the serpent exploit that gap. He doesn’t start with a command—he starts with a question.
“Did God really say…?”
Eve’s knowledge isn’t absent. She quotes God’s words. But now, her heart is wrestling with trust. The decision to eat the fruit wasn’t just disobedience—it was a relational fracture, a failure to believe that God’s way was best.
From that moment, humanity has wrestled with the foot and a half gap—between what we know about God and what we actually trust in our hearts.
Leadership Lessons from the Garden
Lead from identity, not insecurity: You were made in the image of God—start there.
Guard the gap: Knowing truth is not the same as trusting it. Leadership grows when the head and heart align.
Choose presence over performance: God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden. When they sinned, He came looking—not to punish first, but to pursue. True leaders do the same.
Takeaway: Genesis 1–3 isn’t just the beginning of the Bible—it’s the beginning of every leader’s inner journey. It reminds us that what we know in our heads must take root in our hearts. The foot and a half from truth to trust is where leadership is truly born.
