Friday, November 28, 2008

Loving Genuinely and finding Joy in the process


I passed my life and health insurance license test on Tuesday, so I was set to start working this next week, then another opportunity came up this week in a managerial position in the food industry (I haven't been offered it yet, just interviewed). I am asking my self, how can I serve God in the world, enjoy life, supply for my family, and be around and supportive for my wife. The following paragraphs reminded me that I can simplify some of the decisions and trust that God will use me and us wherever I go.I Continue to be challenged by this blog at http://www.simplechurchjournal.com/ They have been publishing chapters from a book that you can download for free. In this chapter they were talking about evangelism and how messed up it has become. Obviously there is so much that the church needs to re-evaluate and this is a huge area. However, for me this is hitting home in other ways. I long to know the heart of God for my life, for my family, and to share it with the world. I think I can do it in either way, whether selling life insurance or being a manager of people.


Love Genuinely
Although Jesus said that Christians would be known by their love, this is almost universally not the case today. We are more often known for our self-righteousness and judgmental attitudes. Furthermore, most un-Christians believe we care more about “making converts” than about them as people. I heard an atheist share that, having made friends with a Christian, he felt the need to ask him, “Am I truly your friend or am I just your project?” This suggests that people may have the perception that Christians tend to look at them as “objects to convert” rather than people that they care deeply about.
Yet, the joy that Jesus has called us to, is to is to simply love others. That’s it. No strings attached. When we recognize the people that God has called us to (including those we are already living among) then we are free to unleash creative ways to just love others genuinely and generously.


Discover Your Own Gifts and Passions
As we live among those we are called to, listening to God’s voice, loving those we are with, we can begin to uncover our own passions and spiritual gifts. We become more and more dynamic as our unique abilities are unleashed outside of the church walls. Many of us have been trained to use our spiritual gifts inside church buildings. How much more powerful to see those same gifts (and more) unleashed as we live a life that is engaging a lost world.
God’s heart is that all will know him. Our joy is to find our unique and created way to join him in that passion. Reaching out to others and using our own gifts and abilities to love them reflects the very life Jesus lived.

2 comments:

Jenibug7 said...

Adaryll read Simple Church and really loved it... unfortunately, hardly anybody does what it says...

trouble said...

I got my cummputer to post. YAY