Ministry changes a selfish person into a loving, compassionate servant of the Lord

ByPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 5 minutes

Greetings to you, dear friends!

 

Grace and peace to you from Father God and our Lord Jesus Christ!

 

We discussed earlier that the main purpose of any ministry is to bring to people the good news of the Gospel of the Kingdom and to lead people to God Who is the Source of life and power.

 

If you are not involved in ministry then there are some areas of your life where you won’t see any changes no matter how fervent you pray. This is because ministry is one of the instruments God uses to change us.

 

How does ministry affect our lives?

 

One sure way ministry affects our life is that: Ministry changes a selfish person into a loving, compassionate servant of the Lord.

 

It is not a secret that we are all born selfish. Someone might argue and say that does not apply to him or that he is not selfish. If you say that then you are lying! We are all selfish, except the transforming grace of God!

 

What does it mean to be selfish?

 

· A selfish person is one who lives only for himself. He only cares about his world and does not notice what is happening to others around him. A selfish person is only concerned about his life and his comforts.

 

· A selfish person is focused on solving only his own problems; the problems of others do not exist for him.

 

· A selfish person uses God and people to solve his problems and to meet his needs. He does not care about the problems God and other people might have; he has no time or desire to help. He thinks like this: «God can solve His own problems; I don’t need to get involved. I just want my problems solved».

 

Can you imagine what would happen to all of us if everybody in our world thought and lived like that? Praise God that He has shown us a completely different lifestyle in Christ Jesus!

 

Quite often selfishness finds its way into our families and our relationships with other people. For example, some people make friends only with those they can use for some gain. I hope that when you became a child of God, you got rid of that type of approach to friendship. When we learn to minister to others and serve people, we are delivered from selfishness through that. Our motivation for making friends is love and the desire to bless and enrich the lives of our friends rather than seeking some personal.

 

God asked: «Cain, where is your brother?» Cain answered God and said: «Am I my brother’s keeper? »

 

You know what that mean? It means Cain is not concern about what happened to his brother. He had just killed his brother and was still demonstrating total indifference. Cain was only interested in how to get what he wanted. A selfish person is not concerned with other people’s needs and feelings. He is ready to get what he wants no matter the cost, even the cost of another person’s life. A selfish person thinks that the only thing that really matter in this life is he and his needs.

 

You know why Cain killed his brother? He did it out of sheer selfishness. Selfish person’s heart is filled with malice towards others. Malice, cruelty, deceit, manipulation and other similar things are the fruit of selfishness. A selfish person is willing to use anything and anybody to reach his goals. If it takes manipulation, he will manipulate. If it takes slander, he will slander. He likes to put down others and climb up using them as steps; he does not care about helping anybody or lifting them up (increasing their value). All a selfish person care about is getting his own way and he has many ways to accomplish that. I believe we are familiar with those ways because before we encountered God we were all typical egotists.

 

«I, me, my….» – is the egotist’s „unholy trinity”.

 

Egotistic people cannot serve others; and even if they do, it is because they have some personal interest or agenda. A selfish person does not know what true biblical ministry is.

 

However, there is a remedy to egoistic way of life. The only way for us to get rid of our selfishness is through ministry. Why? Because through ministry God teaches us to think of others first and only then think of ourselves. Through ministry God teaches us to think how we can be a blessing to others. Ministry helps us to become a keeper and a watchman over our brothers and sisters and drive us to help the people around us. Through of ministry I subdue my ‘self life’ or my selfishness and I begin to help others to resolve their problems and to meet their needs.

 

So, through ministry God kills the selfishness that is inherent in us. The more we serve God and other people, the faster selfishness disappears from our lives. Ministry helps us to grow a servant’s heart and to eliminate selfishness from our lives.

 

When you serve God and people, it fills your life with meaning and happiness!

 

I wish you God’s abundant blessings this day!

 

Pastor Rufus Ajiboye

Similar Posts

  • Follow me and I will make you!

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 3 minutes
    Do you know that you are not all you could be yet? Only the Lord knows who you are created to be and He wants to make you become who you are really created to be. That is why He said “I will make you”.Peter and His brother were created to be Fishers of men, but they did not know that until they started to follow Christ.The bible said they straightway left their nets, and followed him. Their destiny was changed that very day. That was the point the Lord began to make them into who they were created to be.

    Do you know that you are not all you could be yet? Only the Lord knows who you are created to be and He wants to...

  • In what way does ministry influences us?

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 2 minutes
    Ministry conforms a person to Christ and transforms him from an egoist into a loving and giving person. One of ways we can improve our love walk is through our Christian service. Jesus said that when a person loves Him, the person will obey His commandments. (John 14:15)

    Ministry conforms a person to Christ and transforms him from an egoist into a loving and giving person. One of...

  • How can we experience God in our life?

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 6 minutes
    Studying the Bible we see God doing great feats through many people. He was able to realise His intentions using those people just due to their revelation and understanding of God´s key principles. While living in the different times, educated on a different level, belonged to the different cultures all Bible heroes basically have something in common. The secret of the success and feats they had is obvious – they knew God and interacted with Him. They experienced God´s power and His mercy in their lives. How did they succeeded? It became possible because they dedicated themselves to God. That´s exactly what God is inviting us to do.

    Studying the Bible we see God doing great feats through many people. He was able to realise His intentions using...

  • Jesus transforms those that follow Him II

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    In order for me to change I need to follow Jesus. It means I need to follow and submit to His Word and His instructions. It means to spend time with Him to learn His heart and to participate in His mission. To follow Christ also means to imitate Him in all things. It means to react like He reacts, to speak like He speaks, to love what He loves and to hate what He hates.

    In order for me to change I need to follow Jesus. It means I need to follow and submit to His Word and His...

  • How do we serve God?

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    We serve God by serving other people in His Name. To serve God actually means to serve other people in the Name of God or as the representative of God on the earth. It is to do good to others by meeting their spiritual, emotional, intellectual, physical or material needs as an act of our love for God. Please understand that your love for God will have a reflection your relationship with others. In the same way, your neglect of God reflects on how you relate to your neighbour.

    We serve God by serving other people in His Name. To serve God actually means to serve other people in the Name...

  • Ask God for a reformation of your life, especially your prayer life!

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    God desires for us to realize that the church that prayer also wins; it is united church which cannot be overcome by the gates of hell. Praying church is a growing church that experiences God’s power and miracles. God promised that He has established His church and that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. May God help every one of us to give prayer the central place in our lives; may God’s order be established in our lives. I am not talking about redundant, fruitless imitation of prayer; I am talking about the prayer that touches heaven, releases God’s power which was seen in the life of Jesus.

    God desires for us to realize that the church that prayer also wins; it is united church which cannot be overcome...