Paul told his fellow believers in Thessalonica that his fond affection for them had stirred he and his associates to impart to them “not only the Gospel of God, but also our own lives.” That is the call of the church. We are not merely called to preach and declare the Word of God through our evangelistic zeal; we are to give of ourselves. Not only does a lost world need to hear the Word of God, but they need to experience the love and presence of God that comes only when the church becomes incarnational, giving their very own lives to people.
Question: In what ways has the church become out of balance when it comes to giving the Word and giving of themselves?
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We seem to do things more for obligatory and social reasons instead of from the heart. Look at how many attendees we have on Sunday morning as compared to Wednesday evening 6:00 P.M. prayer time. Our motives must turn from meeting our own needs to meeting God's ,and that can often be uncomfortable.
ReplyDeleteBeing part of the church, I find myself falling prey to the self serving attitude instead of serving the Lord. When I am self serving the world sees me as no different than themselves and thus will come to the conclusion of "why do I need to go to church when I am already like the church goers." But when I am truly serving the Lord, the world no longer sees me but they see the one that matters. Serving the Lord comes with a commitment. We must commit ourselves to be obedient to Him and Him alone. Commit our lives to not only corporate prayer and worship but also a daily commitment of prayer and worship of just He and I. For me, it is learning to get back to my knees where I know that I belong.
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