Jus­tice Frank Seep­er­sad says the coun­try can­not progress with­out lead­ers who act with in­tegri­ty and are pre­pared to make dif­fi­cult de­ci­sions for the com­mon good. He de­liv­ered the mes­sage at the MIP­SHA Pres­by­ter­ian Church as it cel­e­brat­ed its 152nd an­niver­sary.

He warned that many peo­ple in au­thor­i­ty pur­sue per­son­al gain in­stead of ser­vice, say­ing, “Sad­ly, for many lead­ers, it is all about self-ag­gran­dize­ment.” Jus­tice Seep­er­sad said ef­fec­tive lead­er­ship must align with God’s will and must be sup­port­ed by ac­tion, not emp­ty words.

He told the con­gre­ga­tion that god­li­ness is cen­tral to lead­er­ship and ref­er­enced scrip­ture from 1 Tim­o­thy 4:7-10. He said those who guide oth­ers must first dis­ci­pline them­selves in right­eous­ness, re­mind­ing mem­bers that, “God­li­ness is ben­e­fi­cial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and al­so for the life to come.”