Principle-Based Leadership: Building Elected Officials Who Lead from Conviction, Not Convenience

Public office exposes every weakness in a leader’s character. Principle-Based Leadership is a Scripture-saturated, highly practical discipleship guide that helps elected officials and civic leaders clarify their core values, anchor them in God’s Word, and apply them consistently across today’s most contested policy arenas.

What this resource is

• A focused workbook in FPIW’s Elected Discipleship Series, designed to form civil servants as “ministers of God for good” through personal transformation, not just political technique.
• Built around six biblical leadership principles—Integrity, Boldness, Courage, Fearlessness, Bravery, and Diligence—each grounded in Proverbs and other key passages with applications tailored to public office.

Six principles for public servants

Each principle offers a clear definition, multiple scriptures, practical application, and space for written commitments:

• Integrity: Walk in moral uprightness so trust, not spin, becomes the foundation of your influence.
• Boldness: Stand as “bold as a lion” when policies align with God’s righteousness, even under pressure.
• Courage: Draw wisdom from God’s Word to bring clarity and hope in moments of crisis or distress.
• Fearless: Open your mouth for the mute and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy, despite opposition.
• Bravery: Make decisive, well-counseled choices rooted in God’s guidance rather than political expediency.
• Diligence: Model hard work, faithfulness, and excellence in representing constituents and stewarding authority.

Clarifying positions with scripture

The “Know Your Position” section walks leaders through core public issues and prompts them to articulate principled, biblically informed positions, with each topic tied to specific passages:

• Individual freedom, tax control, public safety, property rights, and quality education.
• Affordable housing, energy, homelessness, addiction recovery, transportation, religious liberty, and healthcare freedom.
• Election integrity, parental rights, protecting life, environmental stewardship, legal immigration, biblical marriage, limited government, gun rights, national defense, jobs and economy, jurisdictional authority, and law enforcement.

Ideal audiences and uses

• Sitting officials, candidates, and staff who want a structured way to align policy convictions with a coherent biblical framework.
• Legislator and council Bible studies, civic discipleship cohorts, and church-based “Defender” trainings for emerging leaders.
• Christian advocacy organizations seeking a values-clarifying tool for interviews, endorsements, and leadership development.

Linked to a broader Defender movement

Principle-Based Leadership complements FPIW’s mission to defend and advance biblical values in the public square and fits within the Washington Defender framework of praying, signing, voting, engaging, and recruiting. As leaders work through this guide and as supporters partner financially with FPIW and FPIW Action, they help cultivate a new generation of officials whose policies flow from deeply held, biblically grounded principles—not shifting political winds.