10/12/22 Devotional from Ed
Text: Galatians 6:2: Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Devotional: On Monday, a few staff members mentioned how many Forest Lake family members came to the Serve and Connect service opportunity this past Saturday.
If you attended, ask yourself two questions:
- When you signed up, did you really want to give up your Saturday morning to pick up trash in an unfamiliar neighborhood? Be honest!
- Did any apprehension (maybe secret grumpiness or complacency you tried not to show) turn to gratitude after serving?
My guess is every participant from our church family would now say they were grateful they served someone else. As we know, humans are meant to be social creatures, and regardless of our own personalities and gifts, each of us has been given the capacity to serve and receive our own benefits from it. One of those benefits, perhaps the main benefit, is drawing closer to God.
FLPC is hosting a grief group that meets every Monday at noon, and the corresponding text is Good Mourning: Getting Through Your Grief by Allan Hugh Cole. Cole makes the point that serving others is essential for those in mourning, yes, but he also says, “We live hospitality out of faithfulness to the gospel.” He writes that serving others does the following for each of us:
- We shift attention from ourselves to others
- Sharing another’s suffering also serves to remind us that we are not the only ones who suffer
- We gain confidence in God’s presence and provision.
He concludes with this particular chapter with the following: “Don’t underestimate the power of seeing God at work in others’ lives for helping you see God at work in your own life.”
Prayer: Holy God, may your Spirit fall upon each of us this week to heed your call to bear another’s burdens. Amen.
Work Cited: Cole, Allan Hugh. Good Mourning: Getting Through Your Grief. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008.
