Encouragement for New Believers預覽

In finding and following God’s will for your life, you need to accept who you really are, rather than who you think you should be. Comparing yourself to others can hinder your spiritual growth. For instance, a mother of three young children hears her pastor talk about Christians who wake up at dawn each day for an hour of quiet time with God. She would love an hour of quiet time—anytime! —but her kids just won’t cooperate.

So what she takes away from the sermon is that she doesn’t measure up as a Christian. In essence, she’s practising "spirituality by comparison" and living under a cloud of guilt. It doesn’t occur to her that the love she expresses to her children counts as a spiritual activity. Or that she may be serving God more faithfully than somebody who gets up at daybreak in order to have that hour of quiet every morning.

Another example: an outgoing, spontaneous husband is married to a woman who enjoys solitude. It comes easily to her. Nevertheless, he feels like a failure when it comes to prayer because he doesn’t enjoy being alone the way his wife does. He doesn’t consider that his joy and willingness in serving others counts, or that the degree to which he loves them is shaping his soul and delighting God. "Should" is an important word, but when it comes to spiritual growth, God doesn’t want you to obey Him just because you "should". He designed you to want His plan for your life—to get to the place where you can say, "I delight to do Your will, O my God."