Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Love Has A Pricetag


I believe that the LORD has a mission for us all, whether we "go" to the mission field or have a missional mind where we are at.  Have you ever thought that you are a "missionary"? Whether we are single, married and/or a mothers or dads, the LORD has created us each with a purpose.  Read the below and think about it in relation to your life as a missionary for the LORD.

"What is Success in Missions & How Do You Measure It?

  1. Results in missions come from God, not from the human instrument. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Cor. 3:6-7).
  2. Our role is to faithfully proclaim the gospel and trust God for the results. “And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:25-27).
  3. Consequently true success in missions is measured by faithfulness to the task, not by immediate, visible results. “So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” (1 Cor. 4:1-2, NIV).
  4. The very nature of Christian missions depends on faith. “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). The attempt to measure results is often an attempt to live by sight. Defining success as “faithfulness” is hard to embrace because it requires total dependence on God.   (I copied this from a blog I enjoy.)
When I read the above, as a wife, mother, home maker, daughter and woman I feel encouraged as I go about my day that the results I so badly want to see come from the LORD, not me! If I am trying to force results, I can easily fall into the trap of expectations. 
I need to remember to faithfully proclaim THE GOSPEL, not my gospel.  I need to check that I am staying faithful to the Bible as I train and teach my children.
 I LOVED NUMBER THREE, and need to remember to stay faithful to my task! If I begin to think that my success is measured by what I can see, I might try to force immediate and visible results. In doing this I will surly loose my way and become confused and discouraged. So stay faithful to the tasks, not faithful to the results!!
And the last part really does sum it up, we live by faith and not by sight. 

Here is something else that I copied from E. Elliot that was encouraging to me. 
"'The routines of housework and of mothering may be seen as a kind of death, and it is appropriate that they should be, for they offer the chance, day after day, to lay down one's life for others. Then they are no longer routines. By being done with love and offered up to God with praise, they are thereby hallowed as the vessels of the tabernacle were hallowed--not because they were different from other vessels in quality or function, but because they were offered to God. A mother's part in sustaining the life of her children and making it pleasant and comfortable is no triviality. It calls for self-sacrifice and humility, but it is the route, as was the humiliation of Jesus, to glory.




To modern mothers I would say "Let Christ himself be your example as to what your attitude should be. For he, who had always been God by nature, did not cling to his prerogatives as God's equal, but stripped himself of all privilege by consenting to be a slave by nature and being born as a mortal man. And, having become man, he humbled himself by living a life of utter obedience, even to the extent of dying, and the death he died was the death of a common criminal. That is why God has now lifted him so high. . ." (Phil. 2:5-11 Phillips). From Elizabeth Elliot - Love Has A Price Tag"
Love does indeed have a price tag. Today, I encourage you to die to yourself and live for HIM, where ever you are and what ever you're doing. Offer your tasks as love offerings to the One Who loved you enough to die for you and lives now preparing a home for us all.

11 comments:

  1. AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!

    This is what I have been hearing and meditating upon for the last week!

    Love and hugs,
    Jill

    ReplyDelete
  2. amen! :)) loveloveLOVE it! :)) Everyone is a missionary, I just happen to be called to Mali :))

    ReplyDelete
  3. Shonni,

    I have always seen motherhood as my mission field. While I dreamed of international missions as a teen and young adult, once I became a mama I knew that I could put aside those dreams. I did not intend to "raise up missionaries", that was never our stated goal. However, because of our passion for missions, support of missionaries, and reading of missionary biographies for our homeschooling ... 4 of our 5 twenty-somethings have done amazing work in world missions. Those 4 have traveled to Haiti, The Gambia, Senegal, Mexico, Costa Rica, Argentina, Germany, Czech Republic, India, Bangladesh, and Jordan. They have already done far more than I could ever have done by myself.

    Can't wait to see what the Lord has for the next 7 younger kids. :)

    Even with all of the church work that has always needed to be done, I usually passed on long term commitments. My children are/were my long term commitments. Because of my commitment to my children, I was able to raise up mighty workers for the church. 7 of our 8 older children (ages 13-26) have given hours upon hours upon hours of volunteer ministry time to the church (working in Children's Ministry and Youth Ministry). Because I spent my time training and discipling my children ... the church got much more than I could have given by myself.

    Keep raising up those kids. They are your mission field. You may not see the "results" right away, but it's the long term commitment that matters. My relationships with my 6 young adult children are more than I could ever have imagined. And ... it is looking like we might have 4 weddings in the next year or two. Wow! Four more young adults to add to our family. Yippee!!! Can't wait to see what the Lord has planned for them in their marriages.

    Hugs!

    Laurel

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amen! And when we think we are too tired to give anymore, it is so good to remember to just keep dying to self, remembering God's grace is sufficient.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Shonni, thank you so much! I really needed this!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you I needed this reminder!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Shoni,
    I love this post! At times in our day to day routine as mother's we forget that our job is certainly one of the most important one's out there and our primary goal should be to raise our children up in the Lord. I often get easily discouraged because teens can get swayed by tall the charm the world has to offer, but the Holy Spirit gently reminds me that I need to stay on task for the Lord and He will handle the rest. Just focus on the Almighty. Love this post, it got me emotional but thanks I needed to read it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Shonni,
    Thank you for sharing this! I desperately needed to "hear" this today. God is always faithful to give us what we need when we need it.
    Much love!
    lisa

    ReplyDelete
  9. Amen! I love this post!

    yes, I do see myself as a missionary and I am thankful ti do t from my home (wimp- yes you are right)

    We have struggled a little lately with new sibs coming home. I want S to be at a certain place ready for the new sibs BUT this is God's journey, not mine and I am obviously measuring it wrong. Thank you for this post- it truly helps me!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I do indeed believe that I am a missionary. Both on the field and at home in my own life. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love love love your blog :) I had to take a 'blog break' for a season..and am just venturing back into a few, and yours is definitely on the list of reading for me. Love your honesty and passion for the Lord and truth! God bless you today. darci feetontheroad

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...