God cares deeply for people. He wants them to experience His very best for their lives. One of the preferred ways God blesses people is by appointing godly leaders through whom to accomplish His work. When leaders serve God faithfully, people receive a blessing. When leaders allow pride or anger or greed or other sins to enter their lives, people inevitably suffer.
That is why God holds leaders to a higher standard than he does their followers. There is more at stake. When people accept the role as a leader, they must understand the gravity of their sin. Innocent people will be harmed if they are careless in their lifestyle and leadership responsibilities.
That is why God was so harsh with Moses. Despite the numerous good things God’s servant had accomplished, God could not allow him to treat His command lightly. Temper or not, frustrating experience or not, grumbling, ungrateful followers or not, God expected Moses to obey His commands, to the letter. He had not. God punished Moses severely, for the people’s sake. They needed to see, and to understand, that if the revered Moses could not be careless with God’s commands, then certainly they could not either.
Be careful how meticulously you follow God as a leader. There may be far more at stake than you realize.