The Bible for Women

Weekly Devotional

Be a Blessing

A preacher once said, "Some of the happiest people aren't those who have a great deal, but those who give a great deal." This is a biblical principle indeed. Jesus said that he did not come to this world to be served but to serve (Matthew 20:27-29). Jesus, our example, the one in which we strive to pattern our life, was a servant. We live in the greatest country in the world, but with that comes an even bigger responsibility to withstand the temptations, the idols, the sin that we are bombarded with on a daily basis and be a blessing to others in the midst of Satan's lies and deception.

We simply wake up in the morning and turn on the television to innocently watch the local news and weather and into our living room creeps a commercial with a woman barely clothed seducing a hamburger. The next commercial contains sexually explicit scenes from a television show. We walk to our mailbox to check the mail and our favorite magazine published an article on the first soap opera to cast two homosexual lovers. When we go to the internet to check our email, we close out a pop up that is inviting us to view internet porn at our leisure. We turn on the radio and hear profanity flowing freely from the disc jockey. We drive to work and view billboards that invite us to spend our hard earned money at a casino in hopes to make a quick buck. As we watch a movie at the theater we can now be seduced into believing that an ice cold beer on a beach is just what we need to relieve our stress.

The sin we are exposed to by the world in just one day is unbelievable. No wonder our children are confused. No wonder parents have lost sight of the focus. Where are our eyes? Are we focused on Christ or are we wandering? How can we maintain a servant's heart with no outside influence to be a servant? Our worldly influence is about making the most money, having the nicest house, driving the nicest car, sending our children to the best schools. Our worldly influence tells us that lying, cheating and sacrificing our morals will move us forward. We are encouraged to be unforgiving unless we feel like forgiving someone. We shouldn't spank our children. If our children talk back to us, they are simply expressing themselves and we should let them. The world tells us that our children are always right and they should not be made to be responsible for their actions. After all, some outside force is making them behave that way. Where are we going?

We must press forward. We must study. We must pray. We must continue to surround ourselves with the body of Christ, his church. We must make certain that our children are surrounded by the body of Christ. It is not enough to go to worship on Sunday. Is two hours a week going to combat the influence of the world? Can we adequately serve others when we ourselves are not fed spiritually by daily study, prayer without ceasing, and meaningful relationships with the saints. Let us learn from the example of Christ. He spent time in prayer. He made time to talk to His father. He knew the scriptures because he was taught by his parents. He studied. He attended worship and he spent time with believers.

We enter a mission field every time we wake up in the morning. Whether we work in a Christian environment or the world, we are to serve others. We are to teach our children to serve others whether they attend Christian schools, home schools, or public schools, they are to have a servant's heart and a servant's spirit. We are to be lights. We are to teach our children to be lights. We cannot isolate ourselves from the world. We must serve within it. We must train our children to serve within it. The world needs Christians. Our neighbors need Christians. Our co-workers need Christians. Our children's friends need Christians. We must wake every morning and say to ourselves, "Who can I help today? Who can I bless today? Lord, help me be a blessing. Help me to be refreshing to someone who is bombarded by the world. Help my light to shine so I can lay my head down at night and know that the world did not cause me to stumble today, but I overcame the world today."

Our desire to serve must overpower our desire for the world or we will never overcome the world.

May God bless your week. Margie