So Others May Live
Today's devotions is once again taken from today's article in the Daily Bread, titled "So Others May Live". According to the article, we ought to be willing to sacrifice everything that we have, including our lives, for the people around us who do not yet know Christ. We have to have a zealous passion for the lost, similar to what Christ has done for us when He died on the Cross for us. According to Romans 9:3, "I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh."
God is telling me that I have to be less selfish and more caring for other people's needs. I have to be passionate enough for Him and His lost sheep so that I would be willing to give up everything, including my life, for the greater good. I admit that I'm scared by this, because giving up one's life is just so . . . final. It's not just giving up my life either, it's passion that counts, which may include torture in the most extreme cases. I'm not at all sure whether I would be able to do such a thing in the first place, which means that my passion is not very strong.
The problem with me is that I guess that I am too apathetic for my own good. I don't feel enough for the people around me, not even for myself sometimes. I just don't feel; I guess I may be emotionally lacking, I don't know. However, this is the wrong attitude to have, and I have to get rid of it. It is terrible not to be able to love other people, going by the theme in the book "Neverending Story" by Michael Ende. However, I don't even know whether I have this problem or not in the first place, because I've never been put into a situation that makes me behave in such a way. I guess God telling me is a very strong indicator.
If this is the case, then I have to pray that God would develop in me a passion for Himself as well as His lost sheep. Perhaps, that is the motivating factor that He wants me to have because in doing so, I would be following Christ's example because He is like that as well. I have to pray that no matter what happens to me, I have to remain strong for Him and carry on spreading His name no matter what happens, so that even if I have to lose out, others may win because of that.
God is telling me that I have to be less selfish and more caring for other people's needs. I have to be passionate enough for Him and His lost sheep so that I would be willing to give up everything, including my life, for the greater good. I admit that I'm scared by this, because giving up one's life is just so . . . final. It's not just giving up my life either, it's passion that counts, which may include torture in the most extreme cases. I'm not at all sure whether I would be able to do such a thing in the first place, which means that my passion is not very strong.
The problem with me is that I guess that I am too apathetic for my own good. I don't feel enough for the people around me, not even for myself sometimes. I just don't feel; I guess I may be emotionally lacking, I don't know. However, this is the wrong attitude to have, and I have to get rid of it. It is terrible not to be able to love other people, going by the theme in the book "Neverending Story" by Michael Ende. However, I don't even know whether I have this problem or not in the first place, because I've never been put into a situation that makes me behave in such a way. I guess God telling me is a very strong indicator.
If this is the case, then I have to pray that God would develop in me a passion for Himself as well as His lost sheep. Perhaps, that is the motivating factor that He wants me to have because in doing so, I would be following Christ's example because He is like that as well. I have to pray that no matter what happens to me, I have to remain strong for Him and carry on spreading His name no matter what happens, so that even if I have to lose out, others may win because of that.