As a pastor reading this, be careful to build a good administrative system that genuinely attends to the welfare of individual congregants. Every single human being is important, so don’t treat people as if they are numbers. But as a person, don’t love quarrel else you’ll keep speaking unwholesome words to people and can even affect their healthy relationship with you.
You are more likely to have your friend stay with you for more extended periods of time than your own sibling. Treat it as normal, and don’t think your siblings don’t love you. They do, but will likely show their best only when bad things happen.
Dear one, let your eyes focus on God’s reward for everything you do. Make excellence your hallmark. Be discerning enough to watch how things will turn up in any new thing you decide to do. And remember, you don’t have to listen to everything people say about the things you do because most of them don’t fully understand the work you do.
God, unlike humans, can be trusted. He is not a God who says one thing and does the other. What He says is what He does, and what He does is what He has said.
Dear one, as long as you have life today, you have another opportunity to contribute to your database of good works in Christ. Don’t let the enemy deceive you that you don’t have to do more today. No! There are higher realms of impact than where God has taken you right now. It can only get better with you.
As a wife, you have an obligation to build your home (see Proverbs 14:1). Much of your husband’s behaviour will reflect how you influence him. So, if you are not submissive, disobedient, stubborn or uncaring, and you start having problems, fix yourself and stop blaming your husband.
Just because you are born again doesn’t mean you’re less of a human. No! You are still a human with fleshly tendencies. But the power of God resident in you supersedes those desires. So when you put on Christ in your consciousness, the devil’s suggestive thoughts on fleshly lusts won’t have space to breed in your mind for you to even act on it.
The Bible says civil authorities are God’s servants who give their full time to governing (see Romans 13:6). Think about this! They don’t preach the gospel, but the work they do is still regarded as ministerial work. So, if that is so, what makes you think you don’t need to obey them? As much as you obey your pastor, obey the governing authorities also. It’s for your own good.
Teaching the Word of God is one of the hardest things to do. It has so much to do with diligent studying that the teacher must get the revelation in the scripture accurate before hinting upon it in the congregation. That is where many people don’t understand how laborious pastors work. Some think they have a full week of rest and only show up on Sunday mornings to preach. If you think like that, please repent because it is false.
In Romans 12:3, Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote that as a believer in Christ, you should not think of yourself more highly than you ought to but rather think of yourself with sober judgement. My emphasis is on the word “sober.” To be sober means to be moderate, solemn, or of sound mind. That composure in the mindset prevents you from talking pridefully or thinking you are more important than others in this life, even if your status in society is somehow elevated.
If you are a lay minister, you can still adjust your life to serve God faithfully without repercussions on your professional life. You may not have the opportunity to put in as many hours as you want, but it’s better to do something than to do nothing.
Don’t leave your life to chance and think everything will just be fine. I tell you, the evil in this world is so great that without prayer, you can’t make much of an impact. Press on!
