1. The Glory of God
Our first motivation for ministry should be the glory of God. The goal of all ministry is to serve Christ, for as we do it to one of the least of these, we have done it for Christ. We must minister out of a heart desire to glorify God. "...whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31b
While we do minister to people, serving people cannot be the focus of our ministry. Otherwise, our ministry ceases to be ministry and becomes a humanitarian work and a work of our flesh. This is important. Ministry can become an idol in that it can become our focus. We cannot truly love or minister to people if they are at the center of lives. If our goal is merely to help people, we will not be much help. However, if our chief goal is to glorify God and we lift up His name, God promises that He will draw men unto Himself.
Compassion for people will not always sustain you. People will not always appreciate your efforts to reach them with the gospel. Many laborers for Christ have been killed, tortured, and imprisoned for serving Christ. Not only this, there are people who you will not feel like ministering to that will require you to draw on God's strength in order to love and serve them. Jesus tells us if our enemy is hungry to feed Him. Truly, if we are merely serving man, we will quit when we aren't appreciated or when the man we are to serve happens to be our enemy.
The apostle Paul was faithful to the end of his ministry. He wrote these words: "For am I seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10. Paul offers us great insight into ministry in this passage. If we are not motivated by devotion to Christ and a desire to glorify Him, we will stop ministering as soon as we wear out or are persecuted. If we are simply serving man, we will not persevere. Our highest goal in ministry must be to serve God.
2. Love
Our second motivation for ministry should be love for our others. While our chief goal in ministry is not to serve man, we should love man. Without love, we will wear out. The Bible tells us love "does not seek it's own" (1 Cor 13:5). We see from this text that love is self sacrificial. Love seeks the good of others at one's own expense. It will take christian love to be able to continue ministering to people who don't appreciate you, take advantage of you, or even mistreat you.
We read in 1 John 3:13-14 and 16, "Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." We shouldn't be surprised if the very people we are ministering to hate us. Once Christ saves us though, we ought to love others as Christ loved us. We ought to lay down our lives for others in love as Christ laid down His. We ought to love others at all cost, even if it costs us our lives. This is true love. This is the kind of love that should motivate us to minister.
It took love for Elizabeth Elliot to take the gospel to the people who killed her husband. She went back and faced violent Auca tribes people because she still loved them even after they had murdered her beloved husband. This is the power of the love of Christ.
It took love for Jacob Deshazer to take the gospel back to the people who had brutally tortured him for years in POW prisons. Upon seeing the head prison guard of one of the prisons he stayed in, Jacob said,"We meet today in the presence of the God who loves and offers forgiveness to everyone." He was able to offer forgiveness to his former torturer because he had the love of Christ.
It took love for Jesus to say,"Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." as the people stood in the crowd and mocked Him. This is the kind of love it takes to fulfill your ministry.
Our first motivation for ministry should be the glory of God. The goal of all ministry is to serve Christ, for as we do it to one of the least of these, we have done it for Christ. We must minister out of a heart desire to glorify God. "...whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31b
While we do minister to people, serving people cannot be the focus of our ministry. Otherwise, our ministry ceases to be ministry and becomes a humanitarian work and a work of our flesh. This is important. Ministry can become an idol in that it can become our focus. We cannot truly love or minister to people if they are at the center of lives. If our goal is merely to help people, we will not be much help. However, if our chief goal is to glorify God and we lift up His name, God promises that He will draw men unto Himself.
Compassion for people will not always sustain you. People will not always appreciate your efforts to reach them with the gospel. Many laborers for Christ have been killed, tortured, and imprisoned for serving Christ. Not only this, there are people who you will not feel like ministering to that will require you to draw on God's strength in order to love and serve them. Jesus tells us if our enemy is hungry to feed Him. Truly, if we are merely serving man, we will quit when we aren't appreciated or when the man we are to serve happens to be our enemy.
The apostle Paul was faithful to the end of his ministry. He wrote these words: "For am I seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10. Paul offers us great insight into ministry in this passage. If we are not motivated by devotion to Christ and a desire to glorify Him, we will stop ministering as soon as we wear out or are persecuted. If we are simply serving man, we will not persevere. Our highest goal in ministry must be to serve God.
2. Love
Our second motivation for ministry should be love for our others. While our chief goal in ministry is not to serve man, we should love man. Without love, we will wear out. The Bible tells us love "does not seek it's own" (1 Cor 13:5). We see from this text that love is self sacrificial. Love seeks the good of others at one's own expense. It will take christian love to be able to continue ministering to people who don't appreciate you, take advantage of you, or even mistreat you.
We read in 1 John 3:13-14 and 16, "Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." We shouldn't be surprised if the very people we are ministering to hate us. Once Christ saves us though, we ought to love others as Christ loved us. We ought to lay down our lives for others in love as Christ laid down His. We ought to love others at all cost, even if it costs us our lives. This is true love. This is the kind of love that should motivate us to minister.
It took love for Elizabeth Elliot to take the gospel to the people who killed her husband. She went back and faced violent Auca tribes people because she still loved them even after they had murdered her beloved husband. This is the power of the love of Christ.
It took love for Jacob Deshazer to take the gospel back to the people who had brutally tortured him for years in POW prisons. Upon seeing the head prison guard of one of the prisons he stayed in, Jacob said,"We meet today in the presence of the God who loves and offers forgiveness to everyone." He was able to offer forgiveness to his former torturer because he had the love of Christ.
It took love for Jesus to say,"Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." as the people stood in the crowd and mocked Him. This is the kind of love it takes to fulfill your ministry.
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