You were put on earth to make a contribution!
"It is God himself who made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others." Ephesians 2:10 (LB)
You were created to serve God. "God has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do." Ephesians 2:10b (TEV) These "good deeds" are your service to the world. Whenever you serve others in any way, you are actually serving God and fulfilling one of your purposes.
You were saved to serve God. Have you ever wondered why God doesn't just immediately take us to heaven the moment we accept his grace? Once you are saved, God intends to use you for his goals. God has a ministry for you in his church and a mission for you in the world.
You are called to serve God. The Bible says, "All of you together are Christ's body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary
part of it." 1 Corinthians 12:27 (NLT)
Each of us has a role to play,
and every role is important.
You are commanded to serve God. The mature follower of Jesus stops asking, "Who's going to meet my needs?" and starts asking, "Whose needs can I meet?" Do you ever ask that question? One day God will compare how much time and energy we spent on ourselves compared with what we invested in serving others.
Isn’t this the definition of “maturity?” Growing beyond the self, being selfless and focused on others, seems bound to the precepts of Christianity. Growing into the ultimate maturity is a process – feeling every minute that you are walking with Jesus and following his direction. Which leads to daily prayers from those of us who aren’t there yet and need constant nudging – or a good swift kick in the right direction.
Your comments were sooo good that believe it or not I was reading them again this morning and had a thought. Since thoughts come so rarely to me I wanted to capture it quickly for posterity.
A passage of Scripture has been rattling around in my head this week and won’t let go of me. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9
Basically we’re not very good at knowing ourselves and have a skewed view of reality. We do need people to help us see our own blind spots, and although a swift kick in the pants, will get out attention, it often doesn’t last. What we’re looking for are honest friends we trust and can count on to lovingly share the best and the worst in ourselves.
At least that’s what I need and what I want from a church family. ~ Still looking.