"And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." Ephesians 4:11,12
Isn't it nice to be needed? To feel appreciated. To use your talents, skills and spiritual gifts. How about this one...to be used by the Creator of the Universe to further His kingdom and to bring Him glory? I love ministry. I love being used by the Lord to make an impact on His behalf for His children, but ministry is not always a wonderful feeling, it also takes a lot of hard work and dedication. If you have been following the Lord for any amount of time, surely you have been involved in some type of ministry during your walk with our precious Savior. If you are a wife and mother like me, you serve Jesus as you minister to your family on a daily basis; and yes, that includes cleaning toilets!
I think it is easy for us Christian women to often forget what are the main priorities that Christ would have us put first in our lives before we over commitment ourselves in various outside ministries. Let's look into the scriptures and see what the Word of God has to say about a woman's role and her character.
"...the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed." Titus 2:3-5
Do you see the order of this verse regarding what a godly woman should be doing?
First: It talks about our godly character, hence our relationship with the Lord.
Second: we are to love our husband.
Third: we are to love our children.
Fourth: we are to work on our godly character again and we are also called to be homemakers.
That's a lot of ministry for each day! I get tired just thinking about all my responsibilities!
Depending on the season of life that you are in, it will determine how much time you can allot for outside ministries. Obviously if you are raising babies and toddlers right now, that in itself will require a lot of your time at home. If you have chosen to homeschool your children, that will limit your involvement to outside ministries as well.
Listen to what the Lord is telling you. If you have been serving in an outside ministry which is taking you from your first ministries, be obedient to the Lord's prompting and step down from your involvement, (more on this topic will be covered in The Work of Ministry Part 2). On the other hand, perhaps the Lord is telling you to get involved in a ministry, step out in faith and answer His call.
Most importantly as we pursue the Lord we want to honor Him by being obedient to His word. So, in a nutshell, love Christ, love your husband and children and keep your home....then serve others!
I have just scratched the surface regarding this topic and I will write more in the coming days, but for now, my first ministries are calling me!
