Leading for the Good of Others: The Example of Esther
Scripture — Esther 4:13-17 (NRSV)
Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” Then Esther said in reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. After that I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.” Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.
Focus
Esther was willing to risk her life for the sake of others. What might you and I be willing to sacrifice as we live and lead for the good of others?
Today’s devotion is part of the series: Living and Leading for the Good of Others.
Devotion
Throughout the Bible, we find a variety of people who choose to live and lead for the good of others, sometimes at considerable cost or risk to themselves. One of these figures is Esther, who is featured in the Old Testament book that bears her name.
Her story takes place in the Persian Empire, several centuries B.C. When Vashti, the wife of the Persian king Ahasuerus, dishonored him, he banished her and sought another queen from among his subjects. He ended up choosing a young, beautiful, Jewish woman named Esther as the new queen. Upon the advice of her uncle, Mordecai, Esther did not reveal her Jewish identity to the king.
Meanwhile, a Persian official named Haman was promoted by the king to a position of top leadership. Though others bowed down to him, Esther’s Jewish uncle would not. Mordecai’s failure to bow enraged Haman, who plotted to kill, not just Mordecai, but all the Jews in the Persian Empire. Haman convinced King Ahasuerus to support his plan, and a royal decree was issued that all the Jews in Persia should be killed.
Mordecai urged Esther to appeal to the king on behalf of the Jews. But Esther was reticent because, in that day, if someone approached the king without a royal invitation, that person might very well be put to death. But Mordecai continued to plead with Esther, saying, “Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this” (4:14). In the classic words of the King James Version, “Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (4:14, KJV).
In response to Mordecai’s urging, Esther made a bold decision. She said to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. After that I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish” (4:15-16). Esther was willing to put her life on the line to save her people, a stunning example of living and leading for the good of others.
As it turns out, Esther was not killed in her effort to save the Jewish people. Rather, the king had Haman hanged on the very gallows he had prepared for Mordecai, an ironic and fitting ending for such a man. Of course, stories like this don’t always have a happy ending.
But sometimes they do. This is the case with a recent story of a man who risked his life to save another person, an extreme example of living and leading for the good of another person. On January 7, 2026, in Detroit, a woman named Latashia Collins was trapped in a burning car after a serious accident. When firefighters arrived on the scene, one of them, Donald Faulkner, heard her crying for help. Selflessly, he entered the burning vehicle, pulling Collins to safety. Though her injuries were severe and her recovery slow, Collins is alive today thanks to the courage of Faulkner. When he was honored by the Detroit Fire Department, Faulkner said, “I’m just doing my job. I’m just glad she’s doing better. Keep praying for her. I hope she keeps healing up and just love to her family.” I wish there were more people like Donald Faulkner in the world. For that matter, I wish I were more like Donald Faulkner.
The story of Esther and the stories of heroes like Donald Faulkner move and inspire us. Though it’s unlikely that you and I will ever be called upon to risk or surrender our lives for the sake of others, we can ask ourselves what we might be willing to risk or even surrender in service to others. Are we willing to be inconvenienced? Or to give away some of our financial resources to someone in need? Or take on tasks at work that we’d rather not do? Or lift up others on our team? Or go on a mission trip to build homes for those who don’t have them? Or be a counselor at a camp for middle school students? Or risk our reputations by standing up for someone being targeted because of their race or ethnicity? Or???? The possibilities are endless.
Esther was willing to risk her life for the sake of others. What might you and I be willing to sacrifice as we live and lead for the good of others?
Reflect
How do you respond to the story of Esther?
Mordecai uttered the most frequently quoted line in the Book of Esther, “Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this” or “Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (4:14, NRSV and KJV). Have you ever felt as if God put you in some particular situation “for just such a time as this”? If so, what was that situation? How did you respond?
How open are you to being used by God, even if it might be risky or costly to you?
Act
During the next week, look for opportunities to serve others, even if this is inconvenient or costly to you.
Pray
Gracious God, thank you for the life, character, and leadership of Esther. Her courage in the face of possible death is inspiring. It invites me to look at my choices and motivations, to wonder about my willingness to endure risks and costs as I seek the good of others.
Lord, I ask that you give me wisdom to know how best to serve others in my life and leadership. Sometimes it’s hard to know what’s best. And sometimes I might know what’s best but be unwilling to make the sacrifice required. May your Spirit guide me and empower me to know and do what’s right. Especially, I ask that you show me when you have put me in a particular situation “for just such a time as this.” Amen.
Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Working Within a Fallen System (Esther).
Mark D. Roberts
Senior Fellow
Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a Senior Fellow for Fuller’s Max De Pree Center for Leadership, where he focuses on the spiritual development and thriving of leaders. He is the principal writer of the daily devotional, Life for Leaders, and t...
Comments (1)
Within the timeline that we find ourselves; heavy oppression and violence (even), against the marginalized (anyone, non-white or with a voice of opposition), the dismemberment of so many foundational aspects of our country, and the revelation and continued practice of extreme violence against women (also as an overarching campaign to limit, restrict and ‘hobble’ their human rights), I often try to find the heroes in the stories that undergird our understanding of God and our faith. The quieter voices in a story, those in the shadows.
In the book of Esther, another powerful example of leadership is queen Vashti. She, who refused to lower herself to fit into a narrow, humble and restricted category of objectification. She, who is a stand-out also, in modeling a limit, a boundary which she would not cross, and for which she sacrificed much. She’s often ignored or used as an example of an uncooperative spouse; arrogant, rude, and stubborn. Basically, “How not to be” because it cost her everything.
Many years ago as I was completing my chaplain residency at CHLA, I, with a group of my cohort, visited a famous synagogue in Los Angeles. At the conclusion of the tour, our group was thanking the rabbi with whom we’d met. Behind her, on the wall of the office in which we were gathered, was the painting of a woman, standing alone. I asked the rabbi about it, and she replied, “That’s queen Vashti, who uplifted the necessary rights of women by her example. She refused to play the King’s game; which was to objectively ‘parade’ her before his friends.
I was stunned.
This?! from a Reform rabbi in a leading Jewish synagogue?!
I have carried that experience within me and have never thought about the book of Esther in the same way again. The prominent and honoring display of an ‘protagonist’ in the story of a people who would naturally revere and shine a light on Esther, taught me a new thing; that of looking under and into the layers of a situation to see everyone in their role and contribution…
Mark, your example of the willing and sacrificial leadership of Esther is a solid reference for us. Also as a woman pastor who was asked by her pcusa CPM, (committee on preparation for ministry) during the third trimester of my pregnancy, “How will you manage the role and requirements of a minister and still be a good mother?”…
I (with, not a small amount of, trepidation), had replied, “I just spoke to a fellow candidate in the waiting room before coming in here. His first child is also due in the next few months. I’m curious… did you ask him the same question?”
They thought I was “argumentative”.
Examples of leadership are abundant in the Bible, thank God!
I also think that ‘coming at’ the stories we’ve often known for our lifetimes while wearing new eyes and ears can ‘wallop’ our way of seeing and hearing a thing.
Just an addendum to your classic example, pulled from the back file.