Serving God, Part 2

Chuckle: A Sunday school teacher asked her class, "What was Jesus' mother's name?" One child answered, "Mary." The teacher then asked, "Who knows what Jesus' father's name was?" A little kid said, "Verge." Confused, the teacher asked, "Where did you get that?" The kid said, "Well, you know they are always talking about Verge n' Mary."

Good Quote: "The measure of a man (person) is not how many servants he has, but how many people he serves." --D. L. Moody

GOD USES OUR WEAKNESSES (Unless otherwise noted, all quotations are from Rick Warren's "Meditations on the Purpose Driven Life.")

The apostle Paul said, "Since I know it is all for Christ's good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:10 NLT). "I can do everything through him who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:13 NIV).

Today, we continue to look at God's fourth purpose for our lives -- from "The Purpose Driven Life," by Rick Warren: "You Were Shaped for Serving God" by serving others.

God uses our failures, disappointments, and weaknesses to bless the lives of others. When we are the weakest, God is the strongest in our lives. On the other hand, when we feel strong in abilities or resources, we can become tempted to do God's work with our own strength, and that can lead to pride. However, when we recognize our weaknesses, we allow God to fill us with his power, then we become stronger than we could ever be on our own. When God uses our weaknesses, we can only give him all the glory for what is accomplished. If God only used us in areas where we are the strongest, we would be tempted to claim credit for, and bring attention to, ourselves instead of giving God the glory. When God uses us in spite of our weaknesses, it helps give hope and encouragement to others. They will come to realize they can be used of God also.

Remember that God created you, to include all your weaknesses. No doubt God purposely left your weaknesses in your life for a purpose -- to demonstrate his power through you. God keeps us humble by using our weaknesses for his glory, and takes away our pride, arrogance, and selfish tendencies to claim credit for ourselves for what God does. Paul wrote: "For Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:10 NIV).

I once knew a youth minister who signed all his correspondence with "Striving to be Weak." What he was saying was that when he is the weakest, God is his strongest in his life. And he wanted to avoid the temptation of taking any credit for what God is doing through him. Don't forget, our underlying purpose is to serve God, not others. But we serve God by serving others.

I really like the way Peter describes what our attitudes should be towards serving God: "Each one should use whatever gift (spiritual gift, ability, talent) he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen" (I Peter 4:10-11). We are only fully alive when we're helping others.

Love, Jerry & Dotse