You can teach people knowledge and how to do things, but you cannot put integrity in a person.
Bob Yandian had a large church in Tulsa, and for years, he tried to make their bookstore a success. He hired people that had a wealth of bookstore experience and college degrees, and it never worked. It was a constant problem.
One day Bob was at the church, praying and seeking the Lord for answers to the bookstore problem. He was looking for a new person to direct it. As he was praying, he noticed a woman that was in the church, cleaning under the chairs and praying over every chair. She had done this year after year after year.
As he was praying, he looked at her and thought about how faithful this woman had been to do this for years. The Lord spoke to him, and said, “I told you to pick faithful men and women.”
So, Bob spoke to the woman about turning the bookstore over to her. He sent her for training so she could learn some of the skills she needed to run the bookstore, and she’s been running his bookstore for nearly 20 years. Now the bookstore is successful. It worked perfectly because he got a faithful person.
In Exodus 18, Moses had been spending all day, every day judging the matters the people brought to him. Jethro told Moses to pick honest people that hated covetousness and place them over others and let them judge in all seasons. The great matters they would bring to Moses, but every small matter they would judge.
The reason Jethro said this was not only for Moses’ benefit but also for the benefit of the people. We must find faithful men and women, train and empower them, and release them so they can become all God wants them to be!