An Effective Ministry

By Hannah Suttle

“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;” I Corinthians 1:27

When the ministry is your life and consumes every aspect of your life, it is easy to get the mindset that the ministry is what it is, because of what you do and the time you invest. But friend, that could not be further from the truth. It is usually about the time we think we are something special that we start seeing less fruit in the ministry we are privileged to have a part in. So today’s devotional is just a gentle reminder that at the heart of an effective and fruitful ministry is found a humble heart, whose sole purpose is to honor and glorify God.

“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work…” II Timothy 2:20-21

Our purpose in life is to honor and glorify God, proclaim the gospel, and point everyone we meet back to the cross. When our purpose starts to shift from this perspective to one of showing off our capabilities or attempting to plan the fruit we expect to see from an investment, the people involved begin to suffer the negative effects of our pride.

We, as Christians, are simply vessels to be used by the Lord for whatever purpose He sees fit.

We must start each day by seeking the Lord for His power, presence, filling, and guidance for His purpose and His will to be done. On a hot summer day, one would appreciate a cup of water, but the cup would be completely useless to you without the water that fills it. We, as vessels for the Lord, are completely useless without first being filled with the power and presence of God.

“And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” Colossians 1:18

We have all heard the perspective of “stepping up” in the ministry — the idea of doing more, sacrificing more, and being involved in more than one was previously. Sometimes stepping up means stepping back or stepping down. I do not want to be misunderstood as saying you should do less for the Lord; that is not my point. Rather, to say that the ministry is not what it is because you are “in charge” of it. If the pastor and authority in your church think it is time for someone else to be in charge of the Sunday school class you teach, the best thing you can do for that ministry is to humbly step down.

Many ministries are ruined by prideful people who think that they are in charge. An effective ministry has Christ as its head.

An effective vessel does whatever it can to make sure what is done through it is given back to the Lord. Wouldn’t you much rather drink from a clean and humble vessel than a lavish vessel that is dirty? So friend, my prayer is that this devotional will remind each of us to take priority in doing everything we can-not to bring ourselves any praise-but to have an effective ministry by doing all for the honor and glory of God.

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” I Corinthians 10:31