The Generosity of Time
I am so thankful for what God has done so far in the month of November! We are in a sermon series titled “Trusting God,” learning how we can further seek the Lord in providing our needs when we offer our finances to Him. I’m grateful for the faithful preachers we have here at West Park, and I’m excited to continue in this series for the rest of the month!
We also had our Annual Meeting, discussing the faith budget for the upcoming year. It is assuring to observe where exactly our tithes are going within the church, and it’s great to see how all of our ministries are given the resources to be able to spread the gospel in their context.
On top of the series, it is worth giving praise to God for seeing our church provide over 200 Thanksgiving boxes for families in our community! It’s wonderful to see how the body of Christ comes together, not just to serve one another as brothers and sisters, but to also serve the community around us. We pray that these boxes not only meet the physical needs of many in our area, but these boxes also are a testimony to our good and gracious Lord, the unfailing Provider.
I have already written this month about the financial generosity that I have experienced here at West Park, and as I have looked at others who have contributed to the blog this month, I can see they have had similar experiences! However, while I think of generosity, I not only think of others being generous with their money, I think of others also being generous with their time.
Here is what Paul says about the giving of ourselves and our time in Philippians 2:3-4– “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Here, we see not only the importance of giving ourselves to others, but we also see the heart behind it. We are not only called to serve and give our time to others; we are to consider others as more important than ourselves, and to do nothing out of our own ambitions!
I think of so many examples at West Park where people give their time and devotion to others. As a Student Ministry Director, our volunteer leaders ultimately come to my mind! They don’t get paid (though we give them some pretty awesome t-shirts), and yet, they have decided to give their Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings to share the love of Jesus to middle and high school students. Our leaders also get together with their groups outside of church to further connect with them! Students can be a handful at times, and there are a lot of moments where we struggle to see any fruit from the time we spend with them. And yet, without hesitation, our leaders go deeper, continuing to serve God and lead our students in studying His Word. There are no selfish ambitions they have; they simply desire for their students to know Jesus and to grow in their faith in Him. They are not there going through the motions and checking off a box that says they are serving the church in some way; they are devoting themselves, considering their students to be more important than themselves! It is a blessing to have such amazing volunteers.
I can think of so many other examples of those who give their time for the sake of others here at West Park, and they aren’t all volunteers. There are so many people here who have been generous with their time in pouring into me, taking me out to lunch or coffee and discipling me. And I pray you have had similar experiences with the body of Christ and the giving of their time!
I close with this question: Where in our lives can we continue to give our time for the sake of others and their interests? Maybe it’s in a volunteer role at the church, or maybe it’s just striving to invest more in the people around you. Maybe it involves meeting for prayer or Bible study, or maybe it’s meetingsomeone to talk about life and see how they are doing. Maybe it’s giving your time to people in your stage of life, or maybe it’s giving your time to the next generation! Just like the financial resources God has given us, I pray that we all may see the time that He has given us, and see where we can give more to others, not out of our own ambition, but for the benefit of others, and for His honor and glory alone.
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