-H-
DAY 3 –
Heart (Titus
2:11-14)
11For the grace of God has appeared, bringing
salvation for all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and
worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the
present age, 13waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the
glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14who gave himself
for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for
his own possession who are zealous for good works.
While
Paul abounded with spiritual gifts, he knew that gifts and talents were not the
only endowments God gave to make people effective for His service. In our
passage above, Paul wrote to Titus about people who have a big heart and are zealous
for good works. Here are a few other examples of people with heart.
As it
was with Spiritual Gifts, at the heart of “Heart” for involvement is Love.
There is a strong repetition and linking of loving Christ, obeying Christ, and
loving others in John 13-15. “Love one another…if you love Me, you will keep
My commandments… He who loves Me, will be loved by My Father, and I will love
him.”
In
Philippians 2, Paul told the church that Timothy was unlike anyone else. “I
hope … to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of
you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your
welfare.” While others sought out their own interests, Timothy was all
heart, serving like a faithful son to his father.
Barnabas, the “son of encouragement” was
summed up with a powerful understatement in Acts 11:24, “he was a good
man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.”
If you
lack spiritual giftedness, abilities or experiences, you can bring a heart of
love to your ministry to be useful to God’s church. Has God burdened your heart
or elated your heart for a ministry?
Rudy
Ruettiger was a “five foot nothing, 100 and nothing (pounds), and you barely
have a speck of athletic ability” player who just wanted to play football for
Notre Dame University. Rudy did not break any records, but he achieved his
dream and an inspirational movie was made of his “it is always to soon to quit”
spirit. He manifested his quote: “Never underestimate the heart of a champion.”
Rudy had heart and passion because he valued and treasured Notre Dame.
Jesus
said that where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. He was not
saying “put your money where your heart is,” but rather “if you truly treasure
and value the things of God, you will have a heart passion for the things of
God.”
As we
said in the introduction to this week, spiritual gifts are always described in
the Bible next to love of God and love of others.
A
scribe of the law asked Jesus in Luke 10:25 which of the commandments was the
greatest. The lawyer’s motivation was not to seek out knowledge but to test
Jesus’s knowledge. Jesus responded that loving God with all our heart reveals
that we truly treasure God. When we love our neighbors, it also reveals that we
cherish the people that God treasures. As a result of the lawyer’s question,
Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Robbers
were “involved” with the man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, but not
the kind of involvement you would want. They stole from him, beat him, and left
him half dead. Their treasure was the man’s money and their hearts were bad
because they loved things and used people to get what they wanted.
The priest
and the Levite did not get “involved” with the beaten man because their
treasures were themselves and their time. Perhaps even their fear and treasure
of self-protection did not let them get involved. While they did not cause the
man’s misfortune, their inaction was just as bad as the robbers.
Only
the Samaritan is shown to have a “good” heart because he got involved in the
life of a man who was not like him and probably would not have liked him. Nevertheless,
he got involved, not because of the other man’s treasure, but because he
treasured the man. In fact, he valued the man more than his own time and
treasures.
What do
you think keeps people from getting involved in service for the Kingdom of God?
Do you
have a passion or a heart for getting involved in the ministry of this church?
If so, what area? If not, why not?
Day 4, Abillities
Day 4, Abillities
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