Serve God by Serving Others by Rick Warren

”God . . . has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others” (Ephesians 2:10 TLB).

God did not put you on Earth just to live for yourself. He wants you to make the world a better place!
Every time I hear somebody say, “I live for the weekends,” I want to say, “Then why should God keep you alive?” If you’re not fulfilling your purpose, you’re missing the whole point of life.

Ephesians 2:10 says, “God . . . has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others” (TLB).

There’s a word for this: ministry. Every Christian is a minister. Not every Christian is a pastor, but every Christian is to be a minister. That means you use your talents and gifts to make a contribution in life, to be a giver, not a taker.

The Bible uses these kinds of phrases 58 times: “Love one another.” “Care for one another.” “Pray for one another.” “Encourage one another.” “Help one another.” “Counsel one another.” “Support one another.” And on and on the list goes. It is the mutual ministry of every believer in the family of God to every other believer in the family of God. That’s the way God meant for it to be.

The truth is, serving God by serving others is not always easy. Sometimes you’re going to get discouraged. So what do you do when you start to get discouraged? You remember two things.

First, you remember that you’re going to receive a reward that’s going to go on for eternity. The Bible says that God “will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers” (Hebrews 6:10 NLT). You’re going to be rewarded in heaven.

Second, you remember that God uses every little thing. Nothing is insignificant when you serve God. None of it is in vain. “Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord’s service is ever useless” (1 Corinthians 15:58 GNT).

Talk It Over

Would you characterize yourself as more of a giver or a taker in the family of God?
When do you find it most difficult to serve other people?
How might you need to change your attitude toward a seemingly small or insignificant thing God has asked you to do in ministry?

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