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Can God Get Glory from My Life?
by Dominique Henderson
During a very tumultuous time in my life, when God was teaching me how to love like Christ I felt that I was in the wrong ministry. It was strange because this lesson went on for so very long I was sure that my wife and I were the source of the tumult. As we endured through it we examined ourselves, our methods, our thoughts because we didn’t want to be holding up the ministry or holding ourselves back from moving to another place. Life is much too short for that (see Psalm 39:5) But in searching for answers it seems we always came back to the same thing….stay here! And you have to realize just how very hard that was. There seemed to be conflict everywhere we turned within that ministry. However, one day during a vacation when we were away from the “noise” and routine of the daily grind, God spoke to us his answer for us yet again. This time it was a little different though, not only were we to stay (because we seriously were contemplating leaving and going elsewhere), but in our staying we were to love. That seemed a strange answer at first because we felt that we were doing this already in that ministry and that we were following Christ’s command and example to love one another (the “one anothers” in the ministry that is.) But I began to read in 1 Corinthians 13 and I felt convicted and so did my wife. In the NLT, it specifically says in versus 4 through 7 that: "Love is patient and kind…Love does not demand its own way….Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." And since God’s word is always true and knows our inner-most thoughts even to the core of us, if we (my wife and I) were being honest we realized that we hadn’t done all those things on a consistent basis. I was guilty of wanting to leave the situation instead of love through it all. Now does that mean that people should not ever leave a ministry if things are not going right? No. It does not mean that at all. I believe that God has a special place in the kingdom for every individual. No one should waste time in a ministry where their gift is not utilized and they as an individual become stagnant and unable to grow in the Word. Our lives on this earth are so brief in comparison to God's master plan we should always find ourselves seeking how to live out our God-given purposes. But, if you are in a ministry that you are currently not seeing eye-to-eye with the leadership or you are in a leadership position and those under you are not following, the evaluation and scrutiny should first be focused on you. Here is what I mean, what Paul is saying to the church in Corinth was that although they coveted all these spiritual gifts (and some possessed these gifts see chapter 12 in the same book) they should desire to possess the ultimate gift—love. To show love to those that despise you, allows you to see them how Christ once saw you. Yes. We have to be mindful of our own sinful past and how truly unlovable we may have been, but yet Christ loved us and died for us. That same love is what he wants us to exhibit to one another. All other gifts (e.g. tongues, miracles, prophecy, etc.) are less important in comparison. You see, after we are fully mature (when Jesus returns) we won’t need any other spiritual gift except love. So 'love is the bottom-line' as one wise old man used to say. Just remember that if you are in a situation that doesn’t seem right, before you ask God to remove you from it, ask Him to give you the strength to love hell out of the ones that are around you first. In the process you will learn what Christ did especially for you, and you might just find out that you are in the right place after all—the place of love.
Lord I ask for the strength to love people with the love that you had to have in saving me from my filthy former life. It seems so hard to do this with how I am treated, but I know that you went through much worst for me. Give me joy in loving others this way. In Jesus name, Amen.
Suggested readings: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Psalm 39:1-6; 1 Peter 4:8
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