Sacrifice and Serving Others - Ep. 219

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Spiritual Sacrifice and Serving Others

 

INTRO

Today on Run With Horses, we are moving on to stage two of spiritual growth. Thanks for moving forward with me!

 

My name is Norman and my goal is to help you Run Your Race Well, not just Surviving but Thriving as a Disciple of Jesus! There are a LOT of things you could do with your life, but I don’t think anything compares with following Jesus and joining Him on His mission of bringing Hope to the nations. Welcome to Run With Horses and Thanks for including me in your journey!

 

Today’s focus – Moving beyond self to thinking about others. Sacrifice and Service as a foundation for Ministry.

 

I have introduced three stages of Spiritual Growth as they relate to your spiritual life and ministry. Today we will cover the second stage, Sacrifice and Service. Let me know if you have questions or comments as we go along! norman@runwithhorses.net

 

The First Stage – Spiritual Identity and Foundations, allowed you to build a foundation. Learning who you are in God’s sight and the basics of the Christian life as you develop good spiritual habits for the future.

 

The Second Stage – Spiritual Sacrifice and Service, builds on that foundation.

Where the beginning of the spiritual life necessarily involve a lot of work on yourself, to continue to grow you have to be properly oriented toward others. One of the lessons I learned years ago is that Christianity can be summarized as a web of relationships. Your relationship with God, Your relationship with His family, the Church, and your relationship with the world, people who aren’t yet following Jesus.

These relationships with other people are built on a right relationship with God and a clear understanding of what God is doing in the world and your part in it. This foundation is started in Stage One and continues in Stage Two.

 

What are we talking about? Although there is more to it than we will cover today, here are four things that I see us building on the foundation we started when we placed our faith in Jesus.

Learning how to relate in a biblical way to others.

God loves people! How we treat them, in and out of the church, should reflect God’s love for them. We are His hands and feet in the world, carrying out His mission of reconciliation and using our gifts to build up the body. To do that we have to be growing in the character of Jesus. A selfish unregenerate heart can’t treat people as God wants them treated. The foundational heart change of Stage One gives us the new nature that is directed by the Holy Spirit to genuinely love others and consider their needs.

Phil.2:3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

2 Cor.5:20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.

1 Thess. 2:7 But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. 8 So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.

 

Learn and apply the “one another’s” of the NT.

The “one another’s” give us a real picture of what the family of God should look like! You can’t live these out without a real relationship. It takes time and proximity to build this kind of close personal involved relationship with other people.

Love one another is the most of repeated and is the basis for a lot of the other commands we are to live by. The first and second command are to love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. These are SIMPLE to understand. But so hard to live out consistently!

Romans 12:9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

Galatians 5:13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Eph. 4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Eph. 4: 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

God is serious about our relationships! Teach, admonish, encourage, pray for, live in harmony with, build up and in every way LOVE each other.

 

Learn the meaning and value of sacrifice.

Matt. 20:25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Luke 9:23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?

Gal. 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Sacrifice is putting God’s eternal plan and purpose above my personal desires and goals. Sacrifice is loving others enough to do what is best for them even when it is not in my best interest.

 

Find joy in serving.

In this Second Stage of spiritual growth and development we want to answer the question, “What are my spiritual gifts?” As a follower of Jesus, you have been equipped to build up the body of Christ. You have gifts that the church needs. I don’t believe you can mature as a believer without learning to serve others and put your gifts to use. The desire to serve and use your gifts comes from really loving the people God loves and died for.

 

If in Stage One you are learn who God wants you to Be, in Stage Two you are learning to allow Who you are in Christ to flow through you and to impact those around you. If stage one is a classroom, stage two is a construction site with lots of activity! God is building something great in your life.

 

Next time: The Third Stage – Spiritual Maturity and Reproduction

What is it? Know and maintain biblical priorities. Maintain healthy spiritual habits and the disciplines that build a strong spiritual life. Intentionally seek out younger people and invest in their spiritual life. Prioritize disciple making activities and relationships.

 

OUTRO

Thanks for joining me today! Check out runwithhorses.net for show notes and past shows. Write me at norman@runwithhorses.net if you have comments or questions. Join our facebook community and tell a friend if you have found this show helpful! Keep Running!

 

All bible quotations are from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.