Faith and Love
OPENING PRAYER:
Dear Lord, please help me to keep my focus on you in everything I do. Help me embrace following your example so that I may help further your kingdom here on earth.
READ:
“So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God – even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”
REFLECT:
I am a high school teacher. It is a hard job to do well. There are many variables to deal with each day with a high number of them being issues beyond my control. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, and to become unsure about what is necessary and important or what can be ignored. It’s impossible to address everything each day. If I focus on myself and see the daily tasks as the “main thing,” about the only thing that will be true most of the time is falling short and feeling like I’m failing. Remembering that my true purpose is to honor God and to reframe my thinking towards working for the Lord rather than people, can make all the difference.
Whether it’s the challenges of teaching or the difficulties found in any other vocation or activity, it’s important to always do what we’re doing for the glory of God. What Paul shares in the passage above is helpful, freeing advice, especially in the context of furthering the kingdom of God here on Earth. Model Jesus in all that you do and each day will be a success. Day-to-day details will be forgotten, but spreading the love of Jesus will lead to wonderful, eternal consequences. If that is our daily focus and the mission of our work, we can’t go wrong.
APPLY:
Everything we say or do is a choice. We can say yes, we can say no. We can choose to act, or choose not to act. If you desire to be an example of faith and love to others, choose only to say and do what will demonstrate faith and love.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Thank you Jesus for being the perfect example of how to love people.