Paul writes: 'When people commend themselves, it doesn't count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them' (2 Corinthians 10:18 NLT). If your self-worth is based on anything other than God's approval, you won't serve with the right motives. Insecure people worry about how they'll be perceived by others. They hide their weaknesses beneath layers of protective pride. The more insecure you are, the more you need people to serve you, and the more you work for their acceptance.
One Bible scholar writes: 'In order to be of service to others we must die to them; that is, we have to give up measuring our meaning and value by the yardstick of others...Thus we become free to be compassionate.' Your service should not be based on the response of those you are serving, but on obedience to God alone. True servants of God don't insist on having lofty titles. If their job description calls for it, they wear that badge with humility. Paul, the greatest of the apostles, wrote: 'You may brag about yourself, but the only approval that counts is the Lord's approval' (2 Corinthians 10:18 CEV). If anybody had a chance to name-drop it was James the half-brother of Jesus. What credentials; imagine growing up with Jesus as your brother! Yet he simply referred to himself in Scripture as 'a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ...' (James 1:1 KJV).
Your service to Christ should be both your job and your joy: 'Serve the Lord with gladness.' Can you imagine what would be accomplished if we all got serious about our role as servants - and did it joyfully?
I am too frozen to type anything this morning.
I am sitting here watching my gas heater cough and splutter while it struggles to suck the last of the gas out of the bottle. I have a beanie on my head, and a scarf around my neck. I can see my breath as i exhale from what is supposed to be the comfort of my lounge.
Condensation is running down my windows and turning into mould around the gross aluminium joinery that someone back in the 1970s mistakenly thought was a good look, before my eyes.
The power metre is spinning around faster than i can watch - adding dollars on to my power bill every minute - as the dehumidifier attempts to cancel out the dampness that the gas heater causes.
I will be back when my fingers no longer hurt when i move them and i can no longer see my breath when i exhale.
I do not like winter. : /
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