Skip to main content

“God has called us to be spiritual contributors.”

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. 

Will you be what he has called you to be?  Will you?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)   Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle?   Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...
Post a Comment
Read more

“When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant in your life.”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 57). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. To realize that from God’s perspective life is a test goes a long way in determining how you handle your life.   It is important to see that in testing your character is both developed and revealed.   Rick goes on to say that “even the smallest incident has significance for your character development. Every day is an important day, and every second is a growth opportunity to deepen your character, to demonstrate love, or to depend on God.” So there is a God purpose behind each situation in your life.   Even the bad ones are there to strengthen you and develop you.   You see those bad situations are really good ones because they are there for your good. I start each day with a reminder that God is good.   Not every situation that is going to come in my day is good but because G...
Post a Comment
Read more

“What areas of my personality, background, and physical appearance am I struggling to accept?”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 35). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. Rick posed this question at the end of his chapter, You Are Not an Accident.   In this chapter he deals with the fact that God created you the way you are with a purpose.   In other words you are not an accident.   I am also reading the Apostle John’s view of Jesus and what He said and did while He was here on earth.   In the beginning of Chapter 9 there is a story about a blind man.   And the disciples who were with Him asked Him a good question, “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind? ”   Have you ever asked the same thing about something in you that you don’t like?   Like that characteristic is a curse or something.   Society has set a standard that is not a standard of God.   Remember, He created you and you are not an accident. Je...
Post a Comment
Read more