Be faithful
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. 1 Timothy 1:12
This is an excellent life verse and one I can relate to personally. God has put me into ministry. Oh, I know it is not on the level of the apostle Paul’s ministry, but he has asked me to minister beyond myself. He has enabled and equipped me for ministry and although I don’t always get it right, He gives me mercy and grace each day to get up and go after it again. He has counted me faithful in that I am consistent in the little things that grow bigger.
This is what faithfulness is all about. It is about what habits you establish and then do consistently on a daily basis. For instant, you can have the habit of getting up and going to work each day, getting there on time and doing your best work while you are there. You would be counted a faithful employee because of your consistent performance and dependability. In contrast, you could consistently get up at noon, move to the couch, watch tv and social media all day. However, even though you are consistent at this routine and have established a habit, you are not called faithful.
Faithfulness is only attributed to those things that are good and contributing to a cause beyond self. In Paul’s case his faithfulness was in contributing to the kingdom of heaven. He had established habits of ministering the gospel consistently and living a godly life to back up his message. He was put into the ministry because he was faithful. He goes on to say his success in ministry was because of God’s mercy and grace.
Ministry starts with faithfulness. Whether it is faithfully attending church services, faithfully serving in your church or faithfully serving in your community, the enablement and equipping God gives comes after you have first established habits of consistently doing the right things for others.
Today I want to encourage you to examine your faithful attitude. Are you consistent at doing the right things that are good for you and others? Have you established habits that strengthen and grow those around you? A good test of this would be your relationships with your boss or those you work or serve closely with. Decide today to take a step up in your faithfulness by starting one new habit of faithfulness. The first place to start in your faithfulness is setting aside quiet time with you Father each day. Become faithful in your relationship with God and He will lead you to the next steps to enable and equip you for the ministry.
Today’s scripture reading: 1 Timothy 1:12-17
The Daily Dose 