Spiritual Growth, Eph.4:11-16. continuation
Another obstacle to Spiritual Growth is the Failure to minister to one another in the Church.
Ministering to one another is one of the greatest ministries in the Church and without it no Church can grow properly. It is God's will for us to minister to one another and for believers to build themselves up in the Faith-Heb.6:10.
However, many believers consider this to be the job of the Leadership only and through this attitude they impoverish the Church spiritually.
The other side of the coin, of course, is when instead of ministering to one another we engage in pulling everyone apart or criticizing everybody. In this we do not build up the Church but simply demolish it.
What do we actually need to do when we minister one to another and what does it involve? To minister means to 'serve' and this is what the Lord Jesus called us to do by setting an example for us-John 13:1-17 (here a service of refreshment). We are called to minister to one another in the Church. It is not the job of a few gifted people. We are to minister according to our abilities and capacity to do so and not according to what we fancy doing.
We minister to one another because we have first learned to minister to the Lord and having done this we give ourselves to ministering to His people. We must get it the right way round, i.e. to the Lord first and then to His people, and not the other way round. In the passage in John's Gospel Jesus laid aside His garments and stooped low to minister to His disciples. We cannot minister to people from a position of superiority. We have to rid ourselves of our pride and then stoop down. The Apostle Paul exhorts us to, 'In lowliness consider each other better than yourself'. Ministering to someone means to be involved with that person. All enmity must depart. What is the real motive involved in this kind of ministry? Love. No amount of pleasantries will produce ministry if Love is not the motive of our hearts. The Lord Jesus loved His followers and showed it in a practical way, setting an example for us to follow. To be continued
Another obstacle to Spiritual Growth is the Failure to minister to one another in the Church.
Ministering to one another is one of the greatest ministries in the Church and without it no Church can grow properly. It is God's will for us to minister to one another and for believers to build themselves up in the Faith-Heb.6:10.
However, many believers consider this to be the job of the Leadership only and through this attitude they impoverish the Church spiritually.
The other side of the coin, of course, is when instead of ministering to one another we engage in pulling everyone apart or criticizing everybody. In this we do not build up the Church but simply demolish it.
What do we actually need to do when we minister one to another and what does it involve? To minister means to 'serve' and this is what the Lord Jesus called us to do by setting an example for us-John 13:1-17 (here a service of refreshment). We are called to minister to one another in the Church. It is not the job of a few gifted people. We are to minister according to our abilities and capacity to do so and not according to what we fancy doing.
We minister to one another because we have first learned to minister to the Lord and having done this we give ourselves to ministering to His people. We must get it the right way round, i.e. to the Lord first and then to His people, and not the other way round. In the passage in John's Gospel Jesus laid aside His garments and stooped low to minister to His disciples. We cannot minister to people from a position of superiority. We have to rid ourselves of our pride and then stoop down. The Apostle Paul exhorts us to, 'In lowliness consider each other better than yourself'. Ministering to someone means to be involved with that person. All enmity must depart. What is the real motive involved in this kind of ministry? Love. No amount of pleasantries will produce ministry if Love is not the motive of our hearts. The Lord Jesus loved His followers and showed it in a practical way, setting an example for us to follow. To be continued
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