Please enjoy this excerpt from Manage Your Mission – Living wisely and abundantly for today and eternity. This book will help craft your life mission, establish its priorities, and succeed in each area: Faith – Family – Fitness – Field – Friends – Fun – Finances.
James 2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
Acts 20:35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
From the “Hey, Jesus was right — again!” category, giving is better than receiving. God wired us to have the most joy and contentment when loving and serving others. It also takes our minds off ourselves and our problems and often puts them in a better perspective. For example, there have been many times when I wasn’t in the mood to get up and go to prison ministry, but afterward, I was so glad that I did.
But whatever you do, don’t get it backward and think or teach that works save you. Faith always comes first, but works are crucial. This passage couldn’t be more precise, yet many people don’t apply it. God can save you through his grace by giving you faith; after that, he has prepared good works for you.
Ephesians 2:8–10 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Emphasis in the original. Just kidding! I’m always amused when people say “emphasis added” when altering fonts on Bible verses. I thought everyone knew the original authors and scribes didn’t use Times New Roman bold italic underlined fonts. But I digress.
Some people get caught up waiting for signs from God on where to serve, though, as outlined in The Basics section, that isn’t how he typically works. Instead, use wisdom in analyzing what charitable organizations are effective and if your schedule and skills would be a good match for them. Do what you like. No one needs the Spiritual Gift of Cleaning Up After a Church Lunch to be able to pitch in and lend a hand, but you should consider your gifts, talents, and preferences as you find service opportunities. Without exaggeration, I’d rather be hanging out with a bunch of felons than leading high school kids who don’t want to be there. I’ve done both, and I have a preference for the former. It doesn’t mean one is better than the other, as I deeply appreciate those who work with the youth.
So find ways to serve that honor God and show love to your neighbors. But don’t overcommit. I joke that I have the spiritual gift of saying no. I’ve learned that if I do one too many things, then everything starts to unravel. It is hard to say no when someone has a need, but once I say it, I’m always glad I did. So do something, but don’t try to do everything. You aren’t Jesus. Sadly, I’ve known people who got so caught up in volunteering that they wrecked marriages or neglected relationships with children. Their priorities were obviously out of place. I found ministries that fit in well with our family schedules. When my daughters were in junior high and high school, they spent many weeknights and Saturday mornings at ballet lessons and rehearsals, so I could do most of my volunteer work without missing time with them. Prison ministry, for example, is a very Saturday-intensive volunteer activity. I knew guys with young kids involved in soccer or other weekend activities who would have missed too much family time had they volunteered for prison ministry, so I cautioned them against it. But for me, it was perfect. I also did most of my Bible study in the morning or while commuting, and I would meet with my small group partners in the morning.
I enjoyed volunteering as a board member, counselor (to the fathers), and trainer of pro-life reasoning at Care Net Pregnancy Center. Those commitments were on weeknights when the kids had activities, which rarely cut into family time.
I didn’t start doing prison and pregnancy center ministries because of this, but both offer continuous examples of God saving the people that society is most likely to have discarded as hopeless. I never get tired of that.
We found one ministry to do as a family, taking our dogs (Italian Greyhounds) to a nursing home to visit the residents. We are all primarily introverts, so it was out of our comfort zones. But it was something we could do together. The residents, most of whom had Alzheimer’s, loved seeing both the dogs and the girls.
I also went on a mission trip to Honduras with my youngest daughter. She spoke Spanish well and helped other trip members communicate with their sponsor children. It was a great trip. My oldest daughter and I planned to go to Kenya, but it got canceled due to political turmoil. My wife and youngest daughter joined me for a couple of my mission trips to Kenya. If you have an opportunity to go on a mission trip with your family, I recommend it. Only make sure it is well planned. I’ve heard of short-term missions where little good was done and lots of time and money were wasted.
I used to be more guarded with my time than my money, but I’ve learned to enjoy the blessings of serving. But before that, I was stingy with my giving, so we’ll cover that topic next.
Copyright 2022
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible
Eternity Matters 