People are my passion.
I believe that people are my ministry.
Working with the needs of people is my mission field. This must be my focus.
I am supposed to love them with God’s love, not my own; when I get hurt by sharing that love, it is hurting God even more than it hurts me.
Working with people is draining, therefore I must rely on God and not myself. I cannot, absolutely cannot, help others without the wisdom and strength that God gives. Therefore God must be my first passion. When I am a failure and weak, it allows God to get bigger and Him to do more. God’s power is made perfect in my
weakness. II Corinthians 12:9. It will cost more to give more, but it will affect more.
I must give all.
My life should be a living sacrifice and a drink offering poured out to God. It cannot be me though because then it won’t really be a ministry.
Expect to get hurt, because the more I love, the more I will get hurt, BUT it is better to love and get hurt than never love and never get hurt. This is the cross I must bear. I cannot keep God’s love to myself. I must share it. Is God’s love truly overflowing in my life?
I need to learn to forgive and let go, I cannot hold grudges, and be fulfilling God’s calling for my life. There is no room for an attitude.
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”
To me, this means giving my life away, because it is not mine to keep. It means spreading God’s love for others to them, because that is not something that I can keep to myself. By doing this, I am gaining an indescribable blessing and fulfillment. It gives my own life purpose and meaning.
At the end of my rope, God’s rope just begins. I must give my life away to truly find it. Always remember that I’m only working for an audience of one.
- Betsy Smith January 5, 2002
