John Ruskin said, “The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.”
How is your work transforming you?
Ministry is not without its difficulties. The extended hours, elusive results, and inevitable criticism are all but guaranteed. And what work doesn’t bring our way, the demands of day-to-day life certainly will.
These obstacles may lead us in the direction of disillusionment, but there’s a better way to respond.
The book of Hebrews says that Christ was made perfect through his sufferings. This is not referring to his sinless perfection; he had already achieved that.
In this context, perfect refers to how he fully realized his potential, and how how he fully accomplished the mission God had given him.
How was it done? Through suffering. His suffering brought many to salvation.
Through the suffering of Jesus, God made him a perfect leader, one fit to bring them [his children] into their salvation. (Hebrews 2:10 NLT)
Your work, your ministry, even your daily life may feel like a constant struggle and a never-ending battle. Clearly, our sufferings do not compare with his. However, our sufferings are able — as were the sufferings of Jesus — to make us “perfect” as leaders and servants.
Your sufferings enable you to fully realize and fully accomplish God’s design for your life.
And the greatest reward for our work is not a pat on the back or an increase in pay. Our greatest reward is being transformed into the image of Christ.
Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. (1 Peter 4:1)
© 2017/2024. This post originally appeared at PreachingLibrary.com
