Some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry

Philippians 1:15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.

Serving the Lord is full of adventures. You never know where you will be led. Because He is giving the directions if He is in charge of the ministry you are involved in. And His being in charge makes all the difference.

There are a multitude of reasons for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we see in Philippians 1:15 there are some who do so out of envy, some our of rivalry. And others who do so out of goodwill. I looking at moving forward with this blog I had to look into my heart to discover why I was motivated to do so.  Was it envy?  There are a lot of very, very good devotional writers out there who are much better than I at this craft. I suppose each started out from humble beginnings. And so after prayer I was able to determine that I was not doing this out of envy.  So what about rivalry? That implies you have some reason to brag or a desire to be better than someone else.  Again, that is not the case. So I am able, with confidence to say it is out of goodwill that I am doing this. It is a labor of love. It is an act of service that I am able to do freely and without expectation of reward. That is the most wonderful thing about grace. There is no pressure. I do not have a gun to my head in this act of serving the Lord. I am already saved through grace. I could write 10 devotionals a day and not be more saved than if I did 5 a week. The act of service comes from the heart, not from coercion. Faith without deeds is dead. But then grace saves is the premiere concept to remember. Why serve then if we do not have to? Because we are spreading the love of Christ out of love and not obligation. That impresses those being served much more than someone who is doing service as an obligation to earn their salvation. It is sad, but there are people out there who do not know they are already saved. There are people out there who have become convinced that they must serve to earn that which was already won for them when Christ died on the cross. That misconception exists in the world is my motivation to write. The lost need to be found. Those who have strayed need to be returned to the Shepherd. May all our efforts in ministry be blessed by Him who is our leader.

PRAYER: Lord God, Heavenly Father, You are the one we serve. Your Son saved us so that we could serve others with love, and in freedom. Help us, guide us, strengthen us in our efforts to share the Gospel. For if You are with us, who can stand against us. This we ask in the strong name of Jesus. Amen