Written by Chuck Swindoll, these encouraging devotional thoughts are published seven days per week.
The important thing for each of us to remember is that you are responsible for you, and I am responsible for me (Romans 12:18). With the right motive, in the right spirit, at the right time, out of obedience to God, we are to humble ourselves and attempt to make things right. God will honour our efforts.
Matthew 5:23-24 describes in a nutshell the correct response and procedure to follow when we have been in the wrong and have offended someone.
When wrong has been done against another person, there are only two possibilities of blame. But whether we are responsible for the offence or we are the recipients of it, the first move is always ours.
It's important to understand that we can never forgive others, horizontally, if not for what Christ has already done for us, vertically.
How can this be? Where's God in all of this? I genuinely want to serve Him. I prayed for a ministry. I was willing to serve Him anywhere, doing anything...and this is the thanks I get!
Let me encourage you, in spite of the high cost of giving and the small number of servant-models you may see around you, to determine to be different. God tells us He "loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7), and He promises us that the one "who is generous will be blessed" (Proverbs 22:9). Let's believe Him!
Sticking with any commitment is costly. And I can assure you, becoming a servant who gives and gives and gives to others is no exception. By comparison, it will make dieting look like a piece of cake (no pun intended).
We need to make an investigation of our own possessiveness, our tendency to hoard, to hold onto, rather than invest in the lives of others.
Following Christ as His disciple is a costly, unselfish decision. It calls for a radical examination of our self-centred lifestyles. Whew! That's one of those easy things to say but tough to carry out.
Words come easy—but being a person who genuinely and personally gives to others calls for a plentiful supply of flexibility. There's much more to giving ourselves to the Lord and to others than making verbal statements.
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