A thought by Craig Groeschel from his book, Divine Direction: 7 Decisions That Will Change Your Life (p. 128). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
Here are two other thoughts by Craig that hit me while reading this morning: 1. “Serving isn’t something we do. A servant is who we’re called to be.” And 2. “The phrase ‘I can’t find a church that meets my needs’ is one of the most unbiblical statements any Christian could utter.”
Now here is the whole today's focused thought, “We forget that we are not made to be spiritual consumers. God has called us to be spiritual contributors. And the church does not exist for us. We are the church, and we exist for the world.”
He goes on, “When my mind shifts from being a spiritual consumer—it’s all about me, what I want, what I get, what I prefer—to becoming a spiritual contributor, everything changes. I am here to serve God and to love people. I exist to make a difference. God created me to be a blessing to others. My food is to do his will and to finish the work he sent me to do. When we stop just serving because it’s the right thing to do and instead start seeing ourselves as servants, that’s the moment when we die a bit more to ourselves and Christ is free to live through us to bless others.”
Later he says, “If you are using your life to be a blessing to others today, then later you will relish sharing the stories that God will allow you to tell. But if you’re more focused on self-service than on serving others, you’re going to end up with many blank pages—lost blessings that you can find only by contributing what God created you to give to the world.”
Now it is so easy for us to be so self-focused that we get discouraged. And as we turn to God he will encourage us and lift us up but he always wants to encourage us to lift our eyes off our own needs and see those around us. God has called us to be spiritual contributors.
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