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.

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?

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).