I want to talk for a second about the creation story. In the beginning, God began an act of creation. For six days He created everything you see here on earth, along with the rest of the universe. Then, after He had created all of those things, He said, "Let us make man in our own image." He then proceeded to form Adam out of the dust of the earth, and later He created Eve. They were set apart from the rest of creation because they had something special. They bore the image of God upon them. God looked at them differently from the rest of creation. He loved them specially, and interacted with them on a higher level. He made humans his greatest creation. After the fall, God's image that we share may have been tainted, but He still loves us more than any other creation. He still interacts with us differently. We are still His greatest creation.
Now, why am I telling you this? Because, many times I think of myself as God's greatest creation (instead of humanity as a whole). Now, have I ever really thought to myself that I'm personally God's greatest creation? No, but I live like it and think like it, and I'm not alone. We, as fallen beings, many times get so caught up with ourselves and our problems and our image that we seldom see the importance of other people. Being self-centered is a natural side-effect of the fall, and it can really damage our calling as Christians if self-centeredness pervades our lives.
The Gospel is a message to people. Redemption though Jesus Christ is directed towards people. And, for those of us who have been saved through His blood, people are a central part of our lives. Just look at what the New Testament says to Christians. It talks about two things basically: Our relationship with God, and our relationships with other people. You can't do well in one without doing well in the other. They are interrelated. I'm studying the Middle Ages, which means that I read a lot about monks and escapists. They had the idea that in order to grow in relationship with God, one must retreat from the world and go off by oneself, or in a small community of other like-minded people. But they only experienced part of Christianity. They didn't interact with non-Christians, so they couldn't spread the Gospel to the lost. They only interacted with a handful of other believers, so they missed out on many opportunities to minister to others. This isn't good.
There are also those who focus so much on people that they lose track of their relationship with God. They may start to become people-pleasers, conforming themselves to the expectations of those around them. And what starts to happen is that they lose the true meaning of love. As they drift from God, they drift from true relationships with other people. They lose true love of people, and people instead become instruments of their own satisfaction. Obviously, this isn't good either.
Neither of these produce true love of other people. But we don't necessarily have to have one without the other. As we foster a relationship with God, He will call us to minister to other people, and we need to be ready. Too many times we are so caught up in ourselves that we miss out on opportunities to really bless people. People are so important! They are God's most important creation.
What are spiritual gifts? They are Spirit-given abilities to minister to God's people. He has placed us where we are for a reason. He has placed us with certain people for a reason. He expects us to love those people, befriend those people, and minister to those people. God will use us in so many ways, if we are open to being used. But many times we aren't, and it's sad. Truly loving others isn't in our nature. We naturally do the opposite. So it takes work and courage to step out and minister to others.
Many times God will want you to do something that seems awkward. One time, I felt like God wanted me to talk to a random guy at the Atlanta airport. After a few minutes of talking, I got the impression the guy wanted me to leave, so I did. It was awkward, but maybe God used that for something. I may never know, but at least I did it. Sometimes an even harder thing is to spend time with someone who you don't like very much. Maybe they get on your nerves, or maybe they are just kind of strange. It can be hard to talk to them and may feel more like a waste of time than anything else (especially when you could be spending that time talking to your friends). But it can be a real way to minister to that person. I'm not saying that you should always sit next to that person and always talk to them, or whatever. But most times it doesn't really cross out minds to do anything at all.
Does all this make sense? I find that my natural tendency is to be self-centered, instead of thinking about the needs of others. My natural tendency is to love the people who love me, instead of being loving (and showing love) to all. My natural tendency is to talk to people who want to listen, instead of listening to those who want to talk. Are you tracking with me? I hope so, and I hope God will give you opportunities to love others like He loves you. God bless!
Now, why am I telling you this? Because, many times I think of myself as God's greatest creation (instead of humanity as a whole). Now, have I ever really thought to myself that I'm personally God's greatest creation? No, but I live like it and think like it, and I'm not alone. We, as fallen beings, many times get so caught up with ourselves and our problems and our image that we seldom see the importance of other people. Being self-centered is a natural side-effect of the fall, and it can really damage our calling as Christians if self-centeredness pervades our lives.
The Gospel is a message to people. Redemption though Jesus Christ is directed towards people. And, for those of us who have been saved through His blood, people are a central part of our lives. Just look at what the New Testament says to Christians. It talks about two things basically: Our relationship with God, and our relationships with other people. You can't do well in one without doing well in the other. They are interrelated. I'm studying the Middle Ages, which means that I read a lot about monks and escapists. They had the idea that in order to grow in relationship with God, one must retreat from the world and go off by oneself, or in a small community of other like-minded people. But they only experienced part of Christianity. They didn't interact with non-Christians, so they couldn't spread the Gospel to the lost. They only interacted with a handful of other believers, so they missed out on many opportunities to minister to others. This isn't good.
There are also those who focus so much on people that they lose track of their relationship with God. They may start to become people-pleasers, conforming themselves to the expectations of those around them. And what starts to happen is that they lose the true meaning of love. As they drift from God, they drift from true relationships with other people. They lose true love of people, and people instead become instruments of their own satisfaction. Obviously, this isn't good either.
Neither of these produce true love of other people. But we don't necessarily have to have one without the other. As we foster a relationship with God, He will call us to minister to other people, and we need to be ready. Too many times we are so caught up in ourselves that we miss out on opportunities to really bless people. People are so important! They are God's most important creation.
What are spiritual gifts? They are Spirit-given abilities to minister to God's people. He has placed us where we are for a reason. He has placed us with certain people for a reason. He expects us to love those people, befriend those people, and minister to those people. God will use us in so many ways, if we are open to being used. But many times we aren't, and it's sad. Truly loving others isn't in our nature. We naturally do the opposite. So it takes work and courage to step out and minister to others.
Many times God will want you to do something that seems awkward. One time, I felt like God wanted me to talk to a random guy at the Atlanta airport. After a few minutes of talking, I got the impression the guy wanted me to leave, so I did. It was awkward, but maybe God used that for something. I may never know, but at least I did it. Sometimes an even harder thing is to spend time with someone who you don't like very much. Maybe they get on your nerves, or maybe they are just kind of strange. It can be hard to talk to them and may feel more like a waste of time than anything else (especially when you could be spending that time talking to your friends). But it can be a real way to minister to that person. I'm not saying that you should always sit next to that person and always talk to them, or whatever. But most times it doesn't really cross out minds to do anything at all.
Does all this make sense? I find that my natural tendency is to be self-centered, instead of thinking about the needs of others. My natural tendency is to love the people who love me, instead of being loving (and showing love) to all. My natural tendency is to talk to people who want to listen, instead of listening to those who want to talk. Are you tracking with me? I hope so, and I hope God will give you opportunities to love others like He loves you. God bless!
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