A dragon can be a benevolent creature and be worshiped like a God in a story where the protagonist goes to small kingdom as a dragon and becomes the protector/teacher/conselour In his perspective, he would see generations pass, invasions, revolts, and revolutions; he would let it all happen as long he thought that in the end the outcome would be better for the kingdom, You can even eventually have the power to become human, fall in love and have children, half-dragons that would make the kingdom become an empire. The passage of time needs to be in his perspective because of how long it takes for development to kick in, he would never help in conquest; only in defence and even that would be if he finded worth saving the kingdom or empire.
With those characteristics, a religion around him would form as he would teach the people his knowledge but would never say what they needed to do—a passive empire building.