When was the last time you took a moment and thanked God for all the blessings in your life? It’s hard to have this perspective when things are not going the way we think they should.
There are many things in my life that I am grateful for….my relationship with God through Christ, my wife, Holly, the love of my family, friends, health… this list could go on. I have to be honest, I do not always have an attitude of gratitude!
Having the right perspective is everything and often we can lose perspective of what is truly important in life if we are not careful. How do we guard ourselves from this?
Recently Holly and I returned from an amazing ministry mission trip experience in Thailand. In my 30 plus years of doing campus ministry, each summer, we would take a group of students overseas, for an opportunity to serve others. And after every trip and experience, I would thank God for the opportunity, but more importantly, I would be surprised by the sudden shift of having God’s perspective on my struggles, battles, and life in general. It would bring me hope!
Serving others gets minds off ourselves. It’s a spiritual tool that the Bible instructs us in for our spiritual and emotional well-being and health.
Galatians 5:13 says, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Freedom is an amazing thing! Unfortunately, many of us have used our freedoms for the flesh and selfish desires. Deceptively, thinking we were free, we unknowingly were being spiritually blinded and strangled by the enemy.
God’s ways are not our ways. God uses service to Him and others as a means for bringing greater spiritual freedom and healing in our lives. If you find yourself needing God’s perspective and needing hope, might I humbly suggest surrounding yourself with friends and those who think of others before themselves. Being around people that serve others, can help us get in alignment with God and what He values and truly can help us have the Christ filled perspective of hope we need in a world that is filled with sin and hopelessness.
Rev. Brett Martin