Another way to determine your spiritual gifts is to try your hand at a ministry of the Church for which you’re not certain that you’re suited and so, risk failure.
A businessperson was once asked, "What is the secret of your success?" "Making good decisions," he said. Intrigued, his interviewer asked, "How do you learn to make good decisions?" His answer? "By making bad decisions."
Failure is a great teacher and when you follow Christ, never to be feared.
Failure teaches several things. First: It teaches that we’re neither God or the most important or most talented people in the world. Second: It teaches us what we’re not good at, freeing us to focus on that at which we really are good. Third: It shows us that in spite of our fears, failure isn’t fatal. Fourth: Failure shows us that, even when we fail, as Saint Paul puts it, “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:31-39).
Martin Luther was once asked how to determine God’s will for our lives. Of course, we’re to read God’s Word, pray, and seek the counsel of trusted Christian friends. But Luther said, if after all of that, God’s will still isn’t clear to us, we should “sin boldly”: We should do what we think is the right thing, even if we don’t know it for certain.
Many people are afraid to volunteer for established ministries of the Church or to pursue their visions of new ministries because they’re afraid of failure. But no one who genuinely seeks to glorify God, serve the Church, and share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others will be doing wrong even if they fail. And it’s the failures that teach us the most about what we’re most gifted to do as followers of Jesus Christ!
Another way to determine your spiritual gifts is to try your hand at a ministry of the Church for which you’re not certain that you’re suited and so, risk failure.
Bible Passage to Ponder: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
[THANKS TO: Bruce Armstrong of Ordinary Everyday Christian for linking to the first eight installments of this series and for his kind words!]
1 comment:
I enjoyed reading your posts
Post a Comment