Serving for God's Glory - I Peter 4:10

Congratulations, Ruth

I'm sure you would like to join us in congratulating Ruth on the birth of baby Mae Suan - you can see a gorgeous picture of Mae Suan here.

Serving for God's Glory

"As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another,

as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." -I Peter 4:10

I first have to once again marvel at the way that God works...I was amazed to read Stacy's comments on Romans 12:1 and how she related our need and call to serve others in the name of Christ. This has been my thought since challenging our design team with our theme "Serving for God's Glory", which was long before Stacy's post. :-)

In Peter's first epistle, he writes to encourage persecuted and discouraged Christians, exhorting them to stand fast in their faith. Thoughout the book he continually reminds them of the joys and glories of their eternal inheritance and instructs them about Christian behavior in the midst of suffering.

In verses 7-11, Peter turns to exhortation on how we are to treat others and reminds his readers to be "serious and watchful in their prayers" and to have "fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins." In verse 10 he pens our challenge verse, noted above and Matthew Henry, in his Bible commentary, draws these points from the text.

• Whatever gifts we have received, we ought to look upon them as received for the use of one to another. We must not assume them to ourselves, nor hide them in a napkin, but do service with them "one to another" in the best manner we are able.
• The talents we are entrusted with are our Lord's good, and must be employed as he directs.
• He who has received plenty and ability from God ought to minister plentifully ,and according to his ability.
• The nature of a Christian's work, which is high work and hard work, the goodness and kindness of the Master, and the excellency of the reward, all require that our endeavours should be serious and vigorous, and that whatever we are called to do for the honour of God and the good of others we should do with all our might.
• In all the duties and services of life we should aim at the glory of God as our chief end.

As I considered this verse and how I can apply it to my life, I realized that I have too frequently failed to minister to the needs of others around me. I tend to be far too self-absorbed with my own life and struggles and don't stop to look for others in need. It's too easy for my focus to be only on my circumstances and not enough on Christ, the church, and my neighbor.

There are so many who are in desperate need, either of practical help, a word of encouragement, a listening ear, or genuine love and friendship and we (at least I) have a tendency to pass them by. May God be pleased, and may we be willing, to use us to minister to those around us... not so we can pat ourselves on the back or enjoy the good feelings that come from helping someone but so that God can be glorified as we faithfully use the special gifts He has given to us.

We'd love to see your artwork, created based on this week's theme. Just leave us a comment with a link back to your blog or gallery and we'll come visit!

I also wanted to mention that the SALT team will be participating in the A Faith Perspective blog hop on November 14, 2009. The theme of the hop is "Thankful for Friends of Faith." Please stop by on the 14th for a list of participants and to see some lovely artwork created by the team!


Kim

Pauline



Lythan

Hazel


Tanis